Building bridges in Ironbridge for world record attempt - with video
Many have attempted a Lego grand design in their living room at least once – but now the latest attempt at the world’s longest Lego bridge has been unveiled at the birthplace of engineering, Ironbridge.
It took two days to build, months of preparation and just under 205,000 bricks, and now the Ironbridge Gorge Museums, together with the Institution of Civil Engineering (ICE), are waiting with bated breath to have their attempt at building a bridge with the longest span from interlocking plastic bricks officially approved as a world record.
With a span of about 16.8m and a total length of 34m, it is set to beat the current record of 16.46m set by ICE in 2016.
Barely fitting inside the Enginuity museum building in Ironbridge, the feat of plastic brick engineering will now be on show for the next few months, before a date is set to move it to any other interested hosts.
The bridge also marks the beginning of a partnership between ICE and the Ironbridge Gorge Museums, with the aim of inspiring the next generation of engineers through a number of events and programmes.
Jo Barnett, West Midlands regional director for ICE, 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.
Excited
“Civil engineers really do shape the world and touch every part of our lives. It truly is an exciting sector to be involved in.”
It took four members of the brick model building company Bright Bricks to build the bridge over a series of days.
Ed Diment, of Bright Bricks, said: “We are very excited to be working with ICE to install 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 be on display at the museum throughout the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage’s two-week long Festival of Imagination, which runs between September 14 and 29.
