Iron Clad SS Great Britain

The SS Great Britain, one of the world's first iron ships, was "relaunched" after a £11.3 million (US$20 million) makeover at the Bristol docks in south west England.

A Rio Tinto donation helped the restoration project and funds were also contributed towards a new interactive museum covering the operating history and subsequent preservation of the ship.

Lindsey Henniker-Heaton of Technical Services in Bristol, who has been monitoring the project, described the new museum and the recreated internal accommodation as very well presented.

A sheet of glass cleverly covered with two inches of rippling water mimics the ocean around the hull and a state of the art dehumidification system has been installed to preserve the iron plates from corrosion. The ship sits in the same dry dock in which she was built in 1843, a project of the great Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The glass also allows the area of the exposed iron hull below the waterline to be kept dry.

A key part of a visit is now to descend into the dry dock and walk round the hull under the plate glass. Rio Tinto's involvement in the conservation story is covered in the accompanying exhibition, parts of which deal with the corrosion of iron. A further exhibit, on iron ore, partly funded by Rio Tinto, is being developed.

SS Great Britain was one of the ships that marked the transition from sail to steam. She was the world's first great ocean liner, running between Liverpool and New York on steam and a screw propeller, assisted by sails. She also played a role in building the nation of Australia, making 32 voyages from England, carrying migrants and gold seekers - and the first English cricket team to tour Australia. At the end of her useful life she was left to rot for decades in the Falkland Islands. She was hauled back to Bristol on a pontoon in 1970 in a grim condition. It has taken teams of workers and volunteers more than 30 years to return her to her former glory.