Technology
When first introduced in 1838, the Floating Bridge took the form of a wooden-hulled chain ferry designed by engineer James Meadows Rendel. Initially there was one pair of chains across the river, both being used for propulsion. With the introduction of the lighter iron-hulled ferry No 2 in 1854, only the north chain was used for propulsion, the second chain being for guidance only.
In 1879 a pedestrian-only bridge was introduced, followed by a second in 1881 to service the growing workmen traffic heading for the Thorneycroft shipyard just downstream from the crossing. This necessitated the installation of a second set of chains to allow both types of bridge to operate simultaneously.
By 1880, the ferry was still using chains to draw itself over the Itchen. They were replaced by cables between 1878 and 1887 and are first seen in pictures of Floating Bridge No. 7, built in 1892 by Day, Summers and Co. Each rope weighed nearly 2 tons and had an average life of nine months in normal use. Each end was attached to a short length of chain that was connected to counterbalance weights housed in chain wells to maintain tension. As the ropes stretched with use, chain links were removed to compensate.
Floating Bridge No. 11 and the two subsequent ferries were powered by diesel engines.
Originally the ferries were lit by oil lamps. Ferry No 3 was fitted with gas lamps from new in 1862 but reverted to oil in 1869. In the early 20th century, electric lights were fitted to No 8, powered by a steam-driven dynamo. This was replaced by a Lister diesel in 1949.
Read more about this topic: Woolston Floating Bridge
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—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)