[27] See below, p. 60.
[28] See above, p. 42.
[29] The dimensions proposed in this design were as follows:—
| Distance between points of suspension | 600 | feet. |
| Versed sine | 60 | " |
| Width of roadway | 32 | " |
[30] A few days before this ceremony, an iron bar, 1½ inch diameter, and about 1,000 feet in length, was hung across the valley from Clifton Rocks to Leigh Down, to facilitate the works. It was traversed by a basket pulled by ropes. The first few journeys of this machine were somewhat perilous. It was intended that Mr. and Mrs. Brunel should be the first passengers; but, when all was ready, one of Mr. Brunel’s assistants started on a clandestine trial trip, and owing to a bend in the bar, the basket stuck half way, and the mast of a passing steamer caught in the rope. The rope was however cut, and he was drawn back. When the apparatus had been put to rights, on another occasion, when Mr. Brunel was in the basket, it got jammed, and he had to climb up the connecting link and get upon the bar, before he could release the basket.
| Span | 702 | feet 3 inches. |
| Versed sine | 70 | " |
| Roadway above high-water | 248 | " |
[32] Plate I. fig. 2 (p. 49), shows an elevation of the bridge according to the designs on which it was commenced.
[33] See Mr. Brunel’s remarks:—Proceedings Inst. C. E. for 1841, pp. 78, 79.
[34] Rollers on an arched surface had been used previously in several bridges.