Heritage with Related Tags
Canal du Midi
This 360-kilometre network of navigable waterways, connecting the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean through 328 structures (locks, aqueducts, bridges, tunnels, etc.), is one of the most outstanding civil engineering feats of the modern era. Built between 1667 and 1694, it paved the way for the Industrial Revolution. Its creator, Pierre-Paul Riquet, put a lot of thought into its design and the way it integrates with its surroundings, turning a technical achievement into a work of art.
The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales
The Slate Landscape of North West Wales demonstrates the transformation of the traditional rural environment of the Snowdon Mountains and Valleys by industrial slate quarrying and mining. Stretching from the top of the hill to the coast, this land presented both opportunities and constraints. Large-scale industrialisation processes undertaken by landowners and capital investors exploited these opportunities and constraints and reshaped the agricultural landscape into an industrial centre for slate production during the Industrial Revolution (1780-1914). The property consists of six sections, each of which includes surviving quarries and mines, archaeological sites associated with industrial processing of slate, historic settlements (both living and remains), historic gardens and grand country houses, ports, docks and quays, and railway and road systems, which demonstrate the functions and social connections of the surviving slate industrial landscape. The site is of international importance not only for the export of slate, but also for the export of skilled workers from the 1780s to the early 20th century. It has played a leading role in the industry, setting a model for other slate quarries around the world, and providing an important and outstanding example of the exchange of materials, technology and human values.
Ironbridge Gorge
The Iron Bridge is a world-renowned symbol of the Industrial Revolution. It contains all the progressive elements that contributed to the rapid development of this industrial area in the 18th century, from the mines themselves to the railway lines. The nearby Colebrookdale Blast Furnace, built in 1708, recalls the discovery of coke. The Iron Bridge was the first bridge in the world to be built with iron and had a major impact on developments in technology and architecture.
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
Much of Cornwall and West Devon’s landscape was transformed by the rapid development of copper and tin mining in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Its deep underground mines, engine houses, foundries, new towns, small farms, ports and harbours, and their supporting industries, together reflect a wealth of innovation that enabled the region to produce two-thirds of the world’s copper in the early 19th century. Numerous remains bear witness to Cornwall and West Devon’s contribution to the Industrial Revolution in the rest of Britain, and the region’s fundamental influence on the mining world as a whole. Cornish technology such as engines, engine houses and mining equipment was exported around the world. Cornwall and West Devon was at the heart of the rapid spread of mining technology.
Vizcaya Bridge
The Vizcaya Bridge spans the Ibaizabal Estuary west of Bilbao. The bridge was designed by Basque architect Alberto de Palacio and completed in 1893. Standing 45 metres high and spanning 160 metres, the bridge combines 19th century ironwork traditions with the then-new technology of light, twisted steel cables. It was the first bridge in the world to carry passengers and vehicles via a high-suspended cable car and was copied by many similar bridges in Europe, Africa and America, only a few of which have survived. The bridge is considered one of the most outstanding iron structures of the Industrial Revolution due to its innovative use of light, twisted steel cables.
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal
The Pontkistheaster Aqueduct and Canal, located in northeast Wales, is an 18 km long feat of civil engineering during the Industrial Revolution, completed in the early 19th century. The complex geography of the canal required a number of daring civil engineering solutions, not least because it was built without the use of locks. A pioneering masterpiece of engineering and monumental metal architecture, the aqueduct was designed by the renowned civil engineer Thomas Telford. The use of both cast and wrought iron allowed the construction of arches that were both lightweight and strong, and the overall effect is both magnificent and elegant. The site is listed as a masterpiece of creative genius and an extraordinary synthesis of established European expertise. It is also considered an innovative whole that has inspired many projects around the world.
Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining
The site consists of 23 components, mainly located in southwestern Japan. It bears witness to the country's rapid industrialization from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century through the development of the steel industry, shipbuilding, and coal mining. The site shows how feudal Japan sought to transfer technology from Europe and the United States from the mid-19th century onwards, and how these technologies were adapted to the country's needs and social traditions. The site bears witness to what is considered the first successful transfer of Western industrialization to a non-Western country.