Page 42 - Best of STIL 2018 English

The world’s oldest iron bridge
For centuries, bridges were built using wood or stone – aside from wobbly rope bridges of course. In the 18th century, however, the advancements in the iron industry enabled the construction of the first arch bridge made of cast iron in 1779 in England: named the Ironbridge, the structure spans almost 31 meters. Pro-
duction of the 482 cast parts likely began in 1777, while the as- sembly was completed in a mere three months. The bridge was so unique and novel at the time that the nearest town (Ironbridge) and the valley (Ironbridge Gorge) were named after it. Today, the bridge, town and the valley are all listed world heritage sites.
Seaborne steel
Determining the world’s largest container ship is easier said than done. Does that mean the longest? If so, then it would be the “Barzan” (photo) and the “MOL Triumph”, each measuring in at 400 meters in length. Or is it the ship that can hold the most TEUs (container units)?
Then that would be the “OOCL Hong Kong” with a capac- ity of 21,413 TEUs. Measured by volume and load carrying
42 EXTREME STEEL
capacity, it would have to be the “Madrid Maersk”. Around 50,000 tons of steel went into building this ship alone, plus
the empty weight of around 41,400 tons from up to 18,000 containers. Fully laden, the vessel takes to the seas with at least 90,000 tons of steel – and this doesn’t even include the cargo within the containers themselves. The overall weight of the ship can easily top the 180,000-ton mark.
Photos: adobestock©Lance Bellers, ©Joachim Schiermeyer, ©gewitterkind, Frank Schwichtenberg