Mondo Knows Facts

Coalbrookdale iron bridge was the first of its kind

Abraham Darby III cast some 380 tons of iron into a single span over the Severn Completed in 1779 at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, the bridge used cast iron members fitted together like carpentry, with a span of just over thirty metres. It advertised the potential of a material previously used for pots and rails. The crossing is still standing and is now a monument to the iron industry. It sits in Mondo's history collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

More facts like this

Tags: iron, bridges, industrial-revolution

Coalbrookdale iron bridge was the first of its kind: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
Abraham Darby III cast some 380 tons of iron into a single span over the Severn. The figure is taken from Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a history fact?
Yes. It sits on the History shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.