We have already mentioned the harsh weather in Great Britain, where the runway of the Bryce Norton military base near London is melting from the scorching sun. Temperature, as it turned out, can also damage historical monuments. For example, a 135-year-old bridge.

Bridge in foil

The UK has issued a “red warning” for extreme heat for the first time in its history. It is expected to affect a large part of the UK. Today is the hardest in London.

This is where they try to save the Victorian Hammersmith Bridge. It was wrapped in silver foil to reflect the sun, which caused microcracks in aging cast iron pedestals. It is interesting that the bridge also has wooden elements.

Hammersmith Bridge / Photo itv in the process of wrapping with foil

Hammersmith Bridge / Photo itv in the process of wrapping with foil

A similar situation was observed in 2020, took a break from his work for almost a year. At the time, the local government invested about half a million US dollars in the cooling system, which is described as “a giant air conditioning unit on each of the four pedestals”.

Now that the country is in the grip of deadly heat, officials hope the system, together with the foil, will help keep the temperature of the sensitive pedestal circuits below 13 degrees Celsius.