Robert Stephenson
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
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Robert Stephenson
(born Oct. 16, 1803, Willington Quay, Northumberland, Eng.died Oct. 12, 1859, London) British civil engineer and builder of long-span railroad bridges. The son of George Stephenson, he assisted his father in constructing the Rocket and several railways. Building a railway from Newcastle to Berwick, he spanned the River Tyne with a six-arch iron bridge. Called on to build a secure railroad bridge over the Menai Strait to the Welsh mainland, Stephenson conceived a unique tubular design, the success of which led to his building other tubular bridges in England and elsewhere.
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Oxford Dictionary of British History:
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Robert Stephenson
Stephenson, Robert (1803-59). Only son of George Stephenson, Robert was born when his father was still an obscure north-eastern colliery workman. By mid-century, he had acquired an independent reputation as one of the world's most famous engineers. His achievements at home and abroad included railways and bridges, including the High Level bridge at Newcastle (1849), the Royal Border bridge, Berwick (1850), the Menai Straits bridge (1850), and the Victoria bridge at Montreal (1859). He was Conservative MP for Whitby from 1847 until his death.
Oxford Dictionary of Architecture & Landscaping:
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Robert Stephenson
(1803–59)
English railway engineer. The son of the pioneering railway-builder and designer of locomotives, George Stephenson (1781–1848), Robert was mostly responsible for the construction of the main lines from London to Birmingham (1833–8), in the North-East of England, and elsewhere. His greatest works were bridges, e.g. spanning the Tyne at Newcastle and the Tweed at Berwick (1846–9), but his master-piece was the Britannia Bridge (1845–50), a tubular-girder structure carrying the Chester to Holyhead line over the Menai Straits. In the detailed design of the last Stephenson was assisted by Fairbairn and others. He also designed the tubular bridge at Conway, Wales (1845–50). His Victoria Bridge over the St Lawrence, Montréal (1854–9), was for some time the longest bridge in the world.
Bibliography
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)
- Rolt (1960)
- Skempton et al. (eds.) (2002)
- Smiles (1862)
The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
Oxford Dictionary of British History
A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
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Mentioned in
Baden-Powell, Sir Robert Stephenson Smyth
(British soldier)
George Stephenson
(English engineer)
Sir William Fairbairn, Bt
(architecture)
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