The Antoigné Foundry (Fonderie d’Antoigné) is an industrial heritage centre* run by volunteers of the Antoigné-Chappée Founders Association. It is located on the former site of a large ironworks, originally a small forge established in the 17th century at Antoigné in the commune of Sainte Jamme sur...
The Rotonde Ferroviaire (‘railway roundhouse’) at Montabon in La Vallée du Loir* is very much a ‘work in progress’ and it is going to be fabulous in a few years. The roundhouse and turntable were originally built in 1891 on the edge of the village of Montabon...
This is an interesting and timely piece of engineering design. This modular hospital is the winner of the ‘Health’ category in this year’s World Architecture Festival. It is currently under construction in a park on Mincheng Road, Minhang District, Shanghai. The modular hospital is designed by Professor...
Norway’s long-awaited Stad Ship Tunnel has been given a green light. The world’s first ship tunnel will allow large ships to avoid the notoriously exposed and treacherous piece of sea at the tip of the 27 km Stad Peninsula in Vestland, on the southwest coast of Norway....
The light installation Een Spoor van Water (A Trail of Water) by artist Matthias Oostrik was unveiled this week under a railway bridge in the Dutch city of Assen. Each passing train activates a unique light composition, incorporated into the paving and plant beds underneath. While I...
Work is complete on 516 Arouca, which at 516 metres long is now the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world*. 516 Arouca hangs 175 metres (574 ft) over the Paiva river in the eastern part of Arouca UNESCO Global Geopark, Portugal. It connects the escarpment of...
The medieval hilltop town of Thiers in the Puy-de-Dôme department of Auvergne*, is known throughout the commercial and domestic kitchens of France as the historic home of the cutlery industry. In particular it’s known for its knives. The town’s craftsmen (& women) have been making knives for...
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is a massive piece of civil engineering comprising a 29.6 kilometre bridge and tunnel crossing of the Pearl River Delta in Southern China. After eight years of construction, the bridge is finally due to open on Tuesday 23rd October, and it is expected...
This week the 25th annual Festival of Speed was held at Goodwood House in West Sussex – a major motorsport event featuring the latest racers, championship drivers and incredible displays of classic cars… like these Porsches. For these 25 years, British artist and designer Gerry Judah, has...
After six years of planning and construction a new state-of-the-art cable car made its inaugural journey today on the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain. The new cable car replaces the old Eibsee cable car* that has been taking up to half a million passengers a year up the...
Most travellers think of the French Ardennes, and the Meuse valley in particular, as a ‘battlefield’ landscape, but its longer heritage is ‘industrial’. This was the heart of the coal and iron industry in France and just as in the valleys of Wales, the story is one...
Zeroing in on central Wiltshire for a weekend escape to the country has opened my eyes to a time in history that, when I lived there, seemed to have passed me by. Staying in Marlborough, a town with the widest high street in the UK and a...
Designs for four new terrifying but beautiful structures for the Zhiangjiajie National Forest Park in China’s Human province, have been unveiled by their French designers, Martin Duplantier Architectes. The Chinese are fast developing a love-hate relationship with vertigo experiences in their cities and their landscapes, and the spectacular...
The massive 57-kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) in the Swiss Alps is finally opening this weekend after 17 years of construction. From Sunday 11 December, train passengers will be able to speed between northern & southern Switzerland in 17 minutes, cutting the overall cross-border journey time from...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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