Alloa Swing Bridge | |
|---|---|
 Piers of the bridge in 2006 | |
| Coordinates | 56°06′04″N3°49′52″W / 56.101°N 3.831°W |
| Carries | Rail traffic |
| Crosses | River Forth |
| Locale | Throsk to Alloa, United Kingdom |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Swing bridge |
| History | |
| Opened | 1885 |
| Closed | 1968 |
| Location | |
 | |
The Alloa Swing Bridge was a railway swing bridge across the River Forth that connected Throsk and Alloa as part of the Alloa Railway. The structure was in use from 1885 until 1968. [1] [2]
The Alloa Railway obtained authority through an Act of Parliament on 11 August 1879 to open a section of line linking the South Alloa Branch of the Scottish Central Railway to Alloa.
The new line was also connected to the North British Railway and both opened on 1 October 1885. The rail line was double track except for the bridge crossing, which was single track. The swing bridge design was necessary to allow the passage of shipping up and downstream at a time when Stirling was still an active port. [2]
The bridge was designed by the consulting civil engineers, Crouch and Hogg, and built by contractors Watt and Wilson, both of Glasgow. [2] [3] The bridge was designed as a 492 metre long (1,615 feet), multi-span, wrought-iron, bow-girder structure, with a horizontal curvature of 865 metres (43 chains). [3] [4] The span of the swing bridge was 44 metres, providing a clear opening of 19 metres for river vessels on each side of a steam-powered, rotating, central pier that housed a cabin structure to allow operation of the steam engine. The central pier of the rotating span was protected by a timber cutwater that projected 43 metres up and down river. When the swing bridge was opened for river traffic, the ends of the rotating span were supported by structures at each end of the cutwater. The deck of the bridge was at a level of 7 metres above high water level and was supported on piers, each consisting of two stone columns connected by ironwork at top and base. [2] [3] [5] Several aerial and deck level photographs of the bridge that illustrate the layout of the structure are available from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
The bridge was damaged by collisions on at least three occasions. In 1899, gales drove a sailing ship against one of the piers. In October 1904, a schooner also collided with one of the piers as it passed through the swing span, displacing some girders. Rail traffic was suspended until June 1905. In August 1920, a German warship, surrendered at the end of the First World War, broke free from its moorings and crashed into the bridge. The damage was serious enough to close the bridge to rail traffic until March 1921. As a result of these incidents, three stone piers were replaced by cast iron ones and additional cross-bracing was added to all piers. [3]
Throughout its existence the bridge had carried passenger and freight traffic, but both gradually declined and in the 1960s, the passenger service was replaced by a four-wheeled railbus. [6] Trains continued to bring coal to the swing bridge engine house until this was fixed in the open position for river traffic in May 1970. The connecting lines and the deck were dismantled in 1971, [3] leaving only the piers and abutments, [3] which remain as of 2021. [7]
Albert Bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge of steel truss design crossing the Brisbane River between Indooroopilly and Chelmer in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Henry Charles Stanley and built from 1894 to 1895 by John McCormick & Son as a replacement for an earlier bridge lost to flooding in 1893. Both bridges were named in honour of the Prince of Wales, Prince Albert. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, 47 km (29 mi) long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of the river, above Stirling, is Abhainn Dubh, meaning "black river". The name for the river below the tidal reach is Uisge For.
The Kincardine Bridge is a road bridge crossing the Firth of Forth from Falkirk council area to Kincardine, Fife, Scotland.
Larbert railway station is a railway station serving Larbert near Falkirk, Scotland.
The Loughor railway viaduct carries the West Wales Line across the River Loughor. It is adjacent, and runs parallel to, the Loughor road bridge. The 1880 viaduct was granted Grade II listed building status. Before it was demolished in early 2013, the viaduct was the last remaining timber viaduct designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Rochester Bridge in Rochester, Medway was for centuries the lowest fixed crossing of the River Medway in South East England. There have been several generations of bridge at this spot, and the current "bridge" is in fact four separate bridges: the Old Bridge and New Bridge carrying the A2 road, Railway Bridge carrying the railway and the Service Bridge carrying service pipes and cables. The bridge links the towns of Strood and Rochester in Medway. All except the railway bridge are owned and maintained by the Rochester Bridge Trust.
The Victoria Bridge, also known as the Victoria Bridge over the Nepean River, is a heritage-listed former railway bridge and now wrought iron box plate girder road bridge across the Nepean River on the Great Western Highway in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith in the City of Penrith local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The bridge was designed by John Whitton, the Engineer–in–Chief of New South Wales Government Railways, and built from 1862 to 1867 by William Piper, Peto Brassey and Betts (superstructure), William Watkins (piers). It is also known as Victoria Bridge, The Nepean Bridge and RTA Bridge No. 333. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 27 May 2016.
Alloa railway station is a railway station in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland.
The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway was a railway in Scotland connecting Stirling and Dunfermline. It was planned by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to get access to the mineral deposits on the line of route, but also as a tactical measure to keep the rival Caledonian Railway out of Fife.
The Alloa Railway was intended to bridge the River Forth linking Alloa with the south without using a ferry.
Throsk is a village in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It lies on the A905 road east of Fallin close to the River Forth. The United Kingdom Census 2001 recorded the population as 231.
The Throsk railway station was a railway station that served the village of Throsk, Stirling, Scotland from 1890 to 1966.
Dickabram Bridge is a heritage-listed road-and-rail bridge over the Mary River between Miva and Theebine, both in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. It was the major bridge on the Kingaroy railway line. It was designed by Henry Charles Stanley and built from 1885 to 1886 by Messrs Michael McDermott, Owens & Co. It is also known as Mary River Bridge (Miva). The bridge was registered on the former Register of the National Estate in 1988.
The River Irwell Railway Bridge was built for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR), the world's first passenger railway which used only steam locomotives and operated as a scheduled service, near Water Street in Manchester, England. The stone railway bridge, built in 1830 by George Stephenson, was part of Liverpool Road railway station. The bridge was designated a Grade I listed building on 19 June 1988.
The Caledonian Railway Bridge is a bridge crossing the River Clyde at Broomielaw in Scotland. It is adjacent to Glasgow Central Station.
Bremer River Rail Bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge at off Bremer Street, North Ipswich, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1865 to 1915. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 11 December 2006.
Burdekin River Rail Bridge is a heritage-listed former railway bridge on the Great Northern railway over the Burdekin River at Dotswood, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Henry Charles Stanley and built from c. 1896 to 1899 by Swanson Brothers. It is also known as Macrossan Bridge. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The Surtees Rail Bridge is a rail bridge on the Tees Valley Line over the River Tees in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. The bridge is south of Stockton-on-Tees town centre and just north of the adjacent Surtees Bridge which carries the A66 road. The bridge is built on the site of a series of Tees Bridges alternating between two adjacent crossing sites.
The Findhorn Viaduct is a railway bridge approximately 500 metres (550 yd) east of the village of Tomatin in the Scottish Highlands, which carries the Perth to Inverness railway line over the valley of the River Findhorn.
The Hay Bridge is a road bridge that carries the Cobb Highway across the Murrumbidgee River at Hay, New South Wales, Australia. The current bridge is the second bridge located in Hay that crosses the Murrumbidgee; the first bridge was in operation from 1873 until 1973; the second and current bridge has operated since 1973.
"Alloa Bridge". Railscot. Retrieved 25 July 2020.