Royal Albert Bridge

Wrought-iron railway bridge, opened May 2, 1859. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to carry the line over the River Tamar between Devon and Cornwall. Each of the two main spans is a structural diagram you can read from the riverbank: a heavy curved iron tube above, working in compression, and a pair of hanging chains below, working in tension, with the deck slung between them. Brunel died a few months after the opening, and his name and the year are spelled out in large letters over the portals. See it from Saltash, where the Tamar road bridge right beside it makes a useful comparison.