Structural Use
Cast iron has been used for centuries, and was used in architecture, like in the construction of East Asian pagodas, in the pre-modern period. It was in 18th century Britain that new production methods first allowed cast iron to be produced cheaply enough and in large enough quantities to regularly be used in large building projects. One of the first important projects was The Iron Bridge in Shropshire, a precedent setting structure made almost entirely of cast iron. However, it was grossly over-designed, and the makers (principally Abraham Darby) suffered financially as a result. The quality of the iron used in the bridge is not high, and nearly 80 brittle cracks are visible in the present structure. Later designers and engineers, such as Thomas Telford improved both the design and quality of the material in his bridges (for example, at Buildwas upstream of Coalbrookdale) and aqueducts (such as the world-famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in North Wales.)
Read more about this topic: Cast-iron Architecture
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