Clifton Suspension Bridge

Wrought-iron chain suspension bridge, opened 1864. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was 24 when appointed, and completed after his death by John Hawkshaw and William Henry Barlow. The bridge took 33 years to finish, and it is a better structure for the delay. Hawkshaw and Barlow added an extra chain on each side and dropped the Egyptian decoration Brunel planned for the towers, so what stands today is plain stone and iron. The chains themselves were bought secondhand from Brunel's demolished Hungerford Bridge in London. The real drama is the setting: a 214-meter span thrown across the Avon Gorge, about 75 meters above high water, so you see the river, the cliffs and the bridge in one frame.