Crawshaw Woods Bridge

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Crawshaw Woods Bridge
Bridge over the Railway - geograph.org.uk - 1987629.jpg
Crawshaw Woods Bridge
Coordinates 53°48′10″N1°24′48″W / 53.802684°N 1.413201°W / 53.802684; -1.413201
OS grid reference SE387341
CarriesShippen Road
Crosses Leeds to Selby railway line
Locale Cross Gates, West Yorkshire, England
Other name(s)Shippen Lane Bridge
Owner Network Rail (NR)
Heritage status Grade II listed
NR numberHUL 4/20
Characteristics
MaterialCast iron
Total length50 feet (15 m)
History
DesignerJames Watson
Engineering design byStanningley Ironworks
Opened1834
Rebuilt1943
1999
2006

Crawshaw Woods Bridge (also known as Shippen Lane Bridge) [1] is a grade II listed cast iron overbridge which spans the Leeds to Selby railway line between Cross Gates and Garforth railway stations. It is notable for being the oldest railway associated iron bridge still in daily use on an operational railway. Due to an upgrade to the line which runs beneath it, the abutments of the bridge will be raised by 4 feet 7 inches (1.4 m), and then the iron arch re-installed at a new height to accommodate electric overhead wires underneath.

Contents

History

The bridge, which is between Cross Gates and Garforth railway stations, was designed by James Walker, and engineered by Stanningley Ironworks for the Leeds and Selby Railway in 1834. [2] Most of the other bridges on the line were constructed of stone, but Crawshaw Woods Bridge is a cast iron bridge set into stone abutments on either side of the line. [3] [note 1] It is thought that the ground underneath the bridge would not support the weight of an all stone structure, so a "single-span, segmental-arched bridge with wrought iron railing balustrades and curved mushroom-top stone piers" was placed there instead. [5] [3] [6] The bridge was renewed by the LNER in 1943 (when a timber deck was installed above the original surface, making the structure non-loadbearing) and it was also renovated by Railtrack in 1999. [6] It was strengthened in 2006 by Network Rail. [7] The bridge spans a gap of 50 feet (15 m) and has three segmental ribs, each 15 inches (380 mm) deep, and is largely cast iron, but the supporting materials are sandstone, wrought iron, steel and concrete. [8] [9] The added deck structure has metal panelling along its length, which one report describes as "unsympathetic". [10]

The overbridge was designed to stretch over four lines, but in the event, only two lines were built on the line and these are closer to one side of the bank with the other side being piled up with earth. [11] As the tracks are slewed to one side, the track in the middle is 16 feet 10 inches (5.13 m) below the arch, and the other track is 15 feet 4 inches (4.67 m) below the arch. [12] The bridge is too low to accommodate the overhead line equipment for the electrification of the line as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, so it will be raised by 4 feet 7 inches (1.4 m). [13] [14] The structure will be jacked up at a cost of £3.7 million (as opposed to an entirely new deck structure at £1.4 million), this is deemed to be a better financial alternative to the option of lowering the track, which is estimated to cost £14.6 million (2024 prices). [15] Work will also be undertaken on the road deck of the bridge, which sits atop the iron-arch structure. [16] This has solid-steel parapets which stand clear, and are structurally independent of, the bridge. [5]

The bridge was grade II listed in 2015, being hailed by Historic England as a "..testament to one of the "Victorian's greatest achievements" - railways." [17] The bridge carries a public bridleway over the railway, and is also used by agricultural traffic. During the First World War, it was used by workers to get to the Barnbow munitions factory on the north side of the line. Therefore, it is of historical interest due to its association with Barnbow, and it being the oldest cast iron bridge still in-situ over a working railway in the world. [18] [note 2] [20]

The bridge has the numbered designation of HUL 4/20 on the British railway's engineer's line reference system, being nearly 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Leeds railway station, and 14 miles 49 chains (23.5 km) west of Selby. [21] [22] [9]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The only other iron bridge over the line was at Garforth station, and this was removed in 2024 and replaced with a newer structure with lifts at eithers side of the upper bridge deck. The old iron bridge was donated to the Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway in Kent. [4]
  2. ↑ There are two known cast iron bridges of earlier construction than Crawshaw Woods Bridge: one on the Stockton and Darlington Railway (1825) which was designed by George Stephenson, and is now in the National Railway Museum in York. The other, on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was demolished towards the end of the 19th century. [19]

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References

  1. ↑ Biddle, Gordon (2003). Britain's historic railway buildings: an Oxford gazetteer of structures and sites. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 439. ISBN   0198662475.
  2. ↑ Mitchinson, James, ed. (19 March 2015). "Listing for historic cast iron bridge". The Yorkshire Post. p. 8. ISSN   0140-0460.
  3. 1 2 Meade, Pollard & Thorne 2014, p. 19.
  4. ↑ Shirres, David, ed. (October 2024). "A 'Beacon' at Garforth". Rail Engineer. No. 210. Coalville: Rail Media. p. 11. OCLC   1366397730.
  5. 1 2 Historic England. "Crawshaw Woods (Shippen House Farm) bridge, HUL4/20 (Grade II) (1419062)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  6. 1 2 CWO 2023, p. 12.
  7. ↑ Clegg 2024, p. 57.
  8. ↑ Rennison, Robert William (1996). Civil engineering heritage. Northern England (2 ed.). London: Thomas Telford. p. 175. ISBN   0-7277-2518-1.
  9. 1 2 Meade, Pollard & Thorne 2014, p. 116.
  10. ↑ Meade, Pollard & Thorne 2014, p. 117.
  11. ↑ CWO 2023, p. 26.
  12. ↑ CWO 2023, p. 31.
  13. ↑ Clegg 2024, p. 5.
  14. ↑ Kilner, Will (16 October 2024). "Big changes ahead for world's earliest cast iron bridge still in-situ over railway". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  15. ↑ Clegg 2024, p. 40.
  16. ↑ Johnson, Thomas (16 October 2024). "Transpennine Route Upgrade: green light for Leeds to Micklefield upgrade works" . New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  17. ↑ "'World's oldest railway tunnel' awarded protected status". BBC News. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  18. ↑ Clegg 2024, pp. 57–58.
  19. ↑ Meade, Pollard & Thorne 2014, p. 36.
  20. ↑ Clinnick, Richard (December 2024). "Trans-Pennine route upgrade milestone". Rail Express. No. 343. Horncastle: Mortons Media. p. 12. ISSN   1362-234X.
  21. ↑ Clegg 2024, p. 70.
  22. ↑ Kelman, Leanne (2020). Railway track diagrams 2: Eastern. Frome: Trackmaps. 36. ISBN   978-1-9996271-3-3.

Sources

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