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On Friday 27th June 1958, the Queen visited Lincoln to officially open Pelham Bridge that broke new ground when it was the first bridge in the world mounted on rubber-steel laminated bearings. In 1955 the firm of consulting engineers, W.S. Atkins & Partners, contacted TARRC (then known as BRPRA) to consult on the technical possibility of designing rubber bearings large enough to use between the bridge deck and its supporting piers. This would enable the deck freedom of movement to take up expansion, contraction, coping with the heavy vehicles braking and accelerating, weaving traffic and the cross thrust of wind. The technology, which significantly cushions vibration, has since been used in more than 10,000 structures worldwide. Homes above underground stations and railways in London and buildings in earthquake zones all benefit from the innovation.

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