 Prior to the construction of the pier , Birnbeck Island could be accessed by a natural causeway at low tide . A proposal was made in 1845 to connect Birnbeck Island to the mainland at the western end of Worlebury Hill . Work commenced on a suspension bridge two years later under a design by James Dredge , architect of the Victoria Bridge in Bath . He patented the ' taper principle ' based on using chains rather than cables , as is more common in suspension bridges . Dredge 's bridge design was considered " a very significant yet relatively short @-@ lived phase in suspension bridge development " . During a strike by stonemasons , what little had been built was damaged during storm , bringing about the end to the suspension bridge scheme . 
