Rochester Bridge Trust’s commitment to sharing best practice in engineering and bridge maintenance has seen it host visits and give talks to a range of organisations from the Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust to the University of Cambridge.
The most recent presentation was to The Worshipful Company of Engineers, a London Livery Company of leading engineers from industry and academia that aims to promote the development and advancement of engineering.
Led by the Master of the Company, Raymond Joyce, a delegation of 36 livery members and spouses visited the Trust on 17 October to learn more about its bridges and heritage. The event began with a presentation by Bridge Clerk Sue Threader in the medieval Bridge Chapel, when she described the 2,000-year history of the crossings over the Medway at Rochester and the upkeep of today’s bridges. This was followed by hard hat tours to inspect the three structures.
Derek Butler, the Trust’s Senior Warden, said: “An award-winning organisation with a fascinating story to tell both past and present, the Trust has attracted some of engineering’s leading practitioners – people such as John Rennie, Thomas Telford and Sir William Cubitt.
“We continue to be pioneers in bridge engineering with, for example, all routine bridge maintenance carried out at Net Zero Carbon since 2022. It is expertise we are keen to share.”
As well as getting first-hand experience of the Bridge Chapel and bridges, the visitors were also able to view a selection of historic documents and plans from the Trust’s extensive archive.
