The Ironbridge Gorge Museums and ICE world record attempt for Building a model bridge with the longest span. View at Enginuity from 31 August
The Ironbridge Gorge Museums, together with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), are attempting to break the Guinness World Book of Records for building a bridge with the longest span from interlocking plastic bricks. On view from Saturday, 31 August into the autumn, the gigantic bridge will stretch the length of Enginuity at the Museum’s Coalbrookdale site.
The new bridge will have a record span of around 16.8m, be 34m long and contain just under 205,000 bricks. This will beat the existing record of a span of 16.46m, which was achieved by the Institute of Civil Engineers on 5 September 2016.
Enginuity was chosen by ICE for this world record attempt because both organisations are dedicated to inspiring engineers of the future with engineers of the past.
Commenting on the partnership with the Ironbridge Gorge Museums, Jo Barnett, Regional Director ICE West Midlands, said: “We are delighted to work with Enginuity to showcase the new model bridge with its record span. Enginuity welcomes children from all over the country and the hope is that the bridge and additional activities will encourage more children to consider civil engineering as a profession. Civil engineers really do shape the world and touch every part of our lives. It is truly an exciting sector to be involved in.”
The role of an engineer has changed through the centuries from the first Industrial Revolution in the Ironbridge Gorge back in the 18th century to what is now recognised as the fourth Industrial Revolution. Rapidly emerging from the third, it is regarded as a new era, rather than a continuation, because of the explosiveness of its development fusing the physical and digital technologies, reflected in Enginuity’s fab lab and newer exhibits.
Ed Diment from Bright Bricks added, "We are very excited to be working with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) to be installing the world's longest span bridge built with plastic interlocking bricks. Working with the ICE, the record was set back in 2016, but this new installation extends that length to set a new record with a central span of some 16.8m. We are hoping that this installation will inspire a new generation of children to take up a career in engineering when they see what is possible with toy bricks."
The bridge will then be on display at the Museum throughout the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage's two-week long Festival of Imagination, which runs between 14 and 29 September.