Historedia
Episode 5 of 5

Bridge opens to traffic

When
1 January 1781
Where
Ironbridge Gorge crossing of the River Severn
Part of
Erection of the Iron Bridge

The Iron Bridge was opened to traffic on 1 January 1781, becoming the first major bridge in the world made of cast iron.

The bridge was opened to traffic on 1 January 1781. Opened that year, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron, and the successful use of cast iron in 1781 pioneered that material for many subsequent bridges.

Sources

  1. The Iron Bridge Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-06

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.