Invention Timeline - Robert Stephenson, English Engineer; Inventor of the Tubular Bridge
b. October 16, 1803 and d. October 12, 1859
English engineer; inventor of the tubular bridge. He was engineer of the London & Birmingham Line, the first railway in London. He built the famous Menai Bridge, which was opened for traffic on March 5, 1850; also the great Victoria Bridge over the St. Lawrence at Montreal, begun in 1854 and completed in 1859, and two others in Egypt. He was buried in Westminster Abbey by the side of Telford. He built the great viaduct over the river Tweed, at Berwick. He is the author of “On the Locomotive Steam Engine” and “On the Atmospheric Railway System.”
Crowned with the culture of the centuries,
With honest mien and noble, manly pride,
He gazes fearless back across the Past,
Triumphant o’er the forces of the world.
Fired by wisdom’s sacred heritage,
Imbued with ardent trust and sanguine hope,
Strong driver of Progression’s potent plow
He presses onward certain of success-
Upon his brow serene intelligence
Reigns sovereign consort of integrity.
—The Maker’s Image: Albert C. Andrews
1850—First locomotive passed over Menai Bridge.
1855—Victoria Bridge was carried away.
1859—Victoria Railway Bridge was erected on tubular principle over St. Lawrence, Montreal.
