” Buenos Aires Transporter Bridge”
During our research we have uncovered the following information which I feel will place a different light on the Patent Shaft gates and I am sure surprise all that read the article.
I do hope the councilors who will be deciding the fate of the gates that so many passed through appreciate the achievements they made and history the Patent Shaft has.
Many thanks goes to the great grandson of Graham Harris
P.S. I believe that my grandfather, Henry Lionel Harris, came to Argentina as an engineer, contracted for the construction of this bridge.
Our history is being eroded just like these gates, please help me to restore these gates and the history they stand for.
If you have any comments or maybe a bit of history about the Patent Shaft then please email to the address below. I will endeavor with your help to restore these gates and hopefully the memories they represented.
If you have any comments or maybe a bit of history about the Patent Shaft then please email to the address below.
savethegates@patentshaft.com
MADRAS BRIDGE Malappuram District of Kerala,India
Thanks to a research student Muhammed Shafah studying about the Moplah Revolt of 1921 and Malabar Special Police.
During his research he came across a bridge in the present day Malappuram District of Kerala, India which had the nameplate of Patent Shaft and Axletree Co. 1911.
It was constructed under PWD Madras in 1911. But only limited information is available. So could you help him in any way with his research, possibly information from any archive’s about this and other constructions in Malabar and Madras Presidency of British India.
” Argentina Railroad Bridge”
PATENT SHAFT & AXLETREE Co. Ld.
Railroad Bridge, installed in 1929 in Argentina, at “Paraje Las Oscuras”
( Latitude: -38°45’10.85″ Longitude: -61°43’29.88″ ),
over the “Sauce Grande River”, and still in service.
During our research we have uncovered the following information which I feel will place a different light on the Patent Shaft gates and I am sure surprise all that read the article.
I do hope you find the photos of interest and appreciate the help of others that are gathering further information showing the achievements made and history the Patent Shaft has.
Many thanks goes to Horacio Simonetti who sent in the photos and Videos,
Horacio discovered the bridge in Argentina.
If you have any comments or maybe a bit of history about the Patent Shaft then please email to the address below.
savethegates@patentshaft.com
” Costa Rica Bridge”
During our research we have uncovered the following information which I feel will place a different light on the Patent Shaft gates and I am sure surprise all that read the article.
I do hope you find the photos of interest and appreciate the help of others that are gathering further information showing the achievements made and history the Patent Shaft has.
Many thanks goes to Marco Alvarado who sent in the photos,
Marco discovered the plaque on the bridge in Costa Rica.
If you have any comments or maybe a bit of history about the Patent Shaft then please email to the address below.
savethegates@patentshaft.com
” BRAZIL: The Century Bridge”
To end the year 2008, walking along the waterfront in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, I came upon a fact of great relevance. I noted, with great admiration, that iron bridge had completed one hundred years in perfect condition. Don’t know if, during this period, he received the appropriate conservation tract. I think not. I think the excellent quality of this “masterpiece” is that makes resist time. Its columns lifted from Riverbed, perfectly aligned with accuracy, were built with granite blocks “gold honey”, composing as a jewel. Signaled already in those times the region’s economic vocation for the exploration of one of our riches: the Granites in its soil and subsoil. Its structure of iron with vertical and diagonal columns in addition to its equilibrium bows at the top, everything installed, impress by millimeters accuracy. It’ s a show!
If you have any comments or maybe a bit of history about the Patent Shaft then please email to the address below.
savethegates@patentshaft.com
JAPAN
Article provided by Keith Eyles.
I am reading Blood ,Iron and Gold, Christian Wolmars’ book on the history of the world’s railways.
He mentions a bridge over the Kafue river in Zambia supplied by the PS & AT Co. It reminded me that when I was driving this summer around Hokkaido, the Northern island of Japan.
I came across a bridge on Lake Shikotsu which has a PS & AT brass nameplate on it.
The bridge was supplied to some other place in Hokkaido then reused on the tourist railway that was built from Chitose to the lake. I think the line was closed in the 1930s. The bridge is nicely restored – see photo. The nameplate is visible if you zoom in.
Incidentally I started my engineering career at Wednesfield Steel Tube, until that closed. I worked elsewhere in Tube Investments ( Oldbury ), then moved out of that industry.
Best regards
Keith Eyles
If you have any comments or maybe a bit of history about the Patent Shaft then please email to the address below.
savethegates@patentshaft.com
More Bridges
During our research we have uncovered the following information which I feel will place a different light on our campaign to save the Patent Shaft gates and I am sure surprise all that read the article.
Latest find:Bridge in Rio Nuevo Jamaica, Pictures taken by Wayne Bishop
Wayne drove across an old hardly used iron bridge to a secluded beach a few weeks ago.
took a picture of the plaque along with the bridge. Returned back to the US from vacation and did some research and found our website.
I do hope the Borough councilors who will be deciding the fate of the gates that so many have passed through, take a moment to appreciate the achievements that were made by the workers at the Patent Shaft Steel Works.
WIDENING LONDON BRIDGE; As reported in the New York Times 30th November 1902
A Work of Engineering and Historical Interest. A Granite Structure Over a Tidal Stream Enlarged Without a Moment’s Obstruction to Large and Constant Traffic.The widening of London Bridge, now in progress, is an event of considerable importance to Londoners; it is also an engineering task of no little difficulty, especially as it has to be carried out without stopping the traffic. London Bridge has long been too small for the work it has had to do. The contractors for the steel work are Patent Shaft and Axletree Company of Wednesbury. The steel girders were put together on a large floating pontoon moored near the bridge.
CARTER BRIDGE NIGERIA
The only other 2 ft. 6 in.-gauge lines in Nigeria were the Lagos Steam Tramway and the Lagos Sanitary Tramway. The Lagos Steam Tramway was constructed carrying passengers and merchandise between the Island of Lagos and the mainland at Iddo, the terminus of the Nigerian Railway, then known as the Lagos Government Railway. The line crossed the old Carter Bridge , which was designed by Baker and Shelford, consulting engineers; the Patent Shaft & Axletree Company of Wednesbury, supplied the steelwork.
From Timbuktu to Ottakada.
The last – but not least – of Britain’s bridge builders noted in Ceylon is the West Midlands based fabricator and engineering workshop Patent Shaft and Axletree Co. Founded in 1838 the firm, was based in Wednesbury, and it managed to survive until 1980. Its products can be seen extensively in India, Burma, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Australia, South America and Ceylon. No finer, nor more idyllically sited, tribute to this premium bridge builder can be found than the single 75ft-span near Ottakade erected 1893. The firm also supplied two small spans to cross the Pussalla River about five miles from Padukka, a large water tower for Homagama Station in 1901, and the six huge spans which carry a road bridge over the Kalladi River at Batticaloa in 1924.
PRATTS BRIDGE
Pratts Bridge carries the main A34 road over the Wyrley and Essington Canal just about midway between Walsall and Bloxwich. In the early ’30s it was rebuilt when the old tram lines were taken up. The plaque on the main girder says that it was built by Patent Shaft and Axletree Co. Wednesbury 1935.
JAPAN
Hokkaido, the Northern island of Japan , Keith Eyles came across a bridge on Lake Shikotsu which has a PS & AT brass nameplate on it.
JAMAICA
Bridge in Rio Nuevo Jamaica, WayneBishop drove across an old hardly used iron bridge to a secluded beach a few weeks ago.
took a picture of the plaque along with the bridge. Returned back to the US from vacation and did some research and found our website.
The United Kingdom has the largest number of transporter bridges today with four, though one is not currently in use.
Our history is being eroded just like these gates, please help me to restore these gates and the history they stand for.
If you have any comments or maybe a bit of history about the Patent Shaft then please email to the address below.
savethegates@patentshaft.com