Over Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°52′28″N2°16′5″W / 51.87444°N 2.26806°W |
Crosses | West Channel of the River Severn near Gloucester |
Locale | Gloucester, England |
Heritage status | Scheduled ancient monument |
Characteristics | |
Material | Stone |
Total length | 150 ft (46 m) |
No. of spans | Single arch |
History | |
Designer | Thomas Telford |
Construction start | 1825 |
Construction end | 1828 |
Location | |
Over Bridge, also known as Telford's Bridge, is a single span stone arch bridge spanning the canalised West Channel of the River Severn near Gloucester, England. It links Over to Alney Island.
Although there was a crossing at Over recorded in the Domesday Book, [1] this bridge was built by Thomas Telford between 1825 and 1828, to carry traffic east–west. It was opened in 1830 and remained in use for traffic until 1974. [2] Until the Severn Bridge was built in the 1960s, this was the lowest point downstream that the Severn could be crossed by road bridge.
The arch spans 150 ft (46 m), and was based on Jean-Rodolphe Perronet's 1774 design for a bridge over the River Seine at Neuilly. It combines both an elliptical profile over most of the soffit with a segmental profile at its faces. This feature is known as a corne de vache (French for cow's horn).
When built, the arch sank by 2 in (5.1 cm) when its timber centering was removed, and another 8 in (20 cm) due to settlement of the arch foundations.
Today it is a pedestrian-only bridge, and is in the guardianship of Historic England as a scheduled ancient monument. [3] Road traffic on the A40 crosses the Severn on a new bridge alongside and upstream of it.
This is the last road bridge over the Severn before the Severn Crossings, and was the most downstream free crossing until tolls were removed from the Severn Bridge and Second Severn Crossing in December 2018, although the Severn Bridge already had free access for pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds and, as previously stated, there is no vehicular access to Over Bridge. The bridge is connected by segregated bicycle paths around Alney Island, to Highnam and Gloucester.
The Over Bridge can be seen from the train travelling from Gloucester on the way to Lydney or Chepstow on the Gloucester to Newport section of the former South Wales Railway.
The River Severn, at 220 miles (354 km) long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of 107 m3/s (3,800 cu ft/s) at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in the Cambrian Mountains in mid Wales, at an altitude of 2,001 feet (610 m), on the Plynlimon massif, which lies close to the Ceredigion/Powys border near Llanidloes. The river then flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. The county towns of Shrewsbury, Worcester and Gloucester lie on its course.
The River Usk rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain, Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it flows north into Usk Reservoir, then east by Sennybridge to Brecon before turning southeast to flow by Talybont-on-Usk, Crickhowell and Abergavenny, after which it takes a more southerly course.
St George's Bridge was a bridge over the River Severn in Shrewsbury, England; so named as it was close to the medieval St George's Hospital. It connected Frankwell, an old suburb of the town, to the town centre via Mardol. The gate on the town side was called Mardol Gate and is located where the Mardol Quay Gardens are. The gate on the other side was called Welsh Gate or St George's Gate. The bridge, sometimes now known as the Old Welsh Bridge, was demolished in 1795 and was replaced with the Welsh Bridge.
The Welsh Bridge is a masonry arch viaduct in the town of Shrewsbury, England, which crosses the River Severn. It connects Frankwell with the town centre. It is a Grade II* listed building.
The English Bridge is a masonry arch viaduct, crossing the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The present bridge is a 1926 rebuilding and widening of John Gwynn's design, completed in 1774. A bridge is known to have stood at this spot since at least Norman times. Historically, it was known as the "Stone Bridge". It is a Grade II* listed building.
The Royal Tweed Bridge, also known as the New Bridge locally, is a road bridge in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England crossing the River Tweed. It was intended to divert traffic from the 17th century Berwick Bridge, and until the 1980s it formed part of the A1 road, the main route from London to Edinburgh. However, the construction of the A1 River Tweed Bridge to the west of Berwick has since reduced the Royal Tweed Bridge's importance.
The Iron Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire, England. Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron. Its success inspired the widespread use of cast iron as a structural material, and today the bridge is celebrated as a symbol of the Industrial Revolution.
The Albert Edward Bridge is a railway bridge spanning the River Severn at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, England.
The Victoria Bridge crosses the River Severn between Arley and Bewdley in Worcestershire, England. At the time of its construction, the 200-foot railway bridge was the longest single span cast iron bridge in Britain.
Holt Fleet Bridge, also known as Holt Bridge, is a cast-iron arch bridge over the River Severn, at Holt in Worcestershire, England. It has a span of 150 feet (46 m); it was designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1828. It is Grade II listed, and is similar to Telford's Galton Bridge, which is a Grade I listed structure that spans his BCN New Main Line canal at Smethwick.
Alney Island is an island in the River Severn near Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. The Severn splits into two channels at Upper Parting, and merges again at Lower Parting to the south. The island is a strip of land in between the two channels, about 2.1 miles (3.4 km) long and 0.74 miles (1.19 km) at its widest. It is a local Nature Reserve.
Mythe Bridge carries the A438 road across the River Severn at Tewkesbury. It is a cast-iron arch bridge spanning 170 feet (52 m) and 24 feet (7.3 m) wide, designed by Thomas Telford and completed in April 1826. It is a Grade II* listed structure.
Bewdley Bridge is a three-span masonry arch bridge over the River Severn at Bewdley, Worcestershire, designed by civil engineer Thomas Telford. The two side spans are each 52 feet (16 m), with the central span 60 feet (18 m). The central arch rises 18 feet (5.5 m). Smaller flood arches on the bank bridge the towpath. The bridge is 27 feet (8.2 m) wide.
Over is a village in Gloucestershire, England, 2 mi (3.2 km) west of Gloucester. It lies on the A40 road in the parish of Highnam, on the west bank of the River Severn. Over was historically a hamlet of the parish of Churcham. In 1935, it was transferred to the newly formed parish of Highnam. There is some debate on the correct pronunciation of the name, with some preferring /ɒvɝ/ (oo-vurr) and others stating that it should be pronounced as /ʊ̈vɝ/ (o-vurr).
The Severn Bridge Railway was a railway company which constructed a railway from Lydney to Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England. It was intended chiefly to give access for minerals in the Forest of Dean to Sharpness Docks, and the company built a long bridge, 1,387 yards (1,268 m) in length, over the River Severn. The line opened in 1879.
Maisemore is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the A417 road 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Gloucester, on the west bank of the River Severn. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 488, reducing to 458 at the 2011 census.
The Westgate area of Gloucester is centred on Westgate Street, one of the four main streets of Gloucester and one of the oldest parts of the city. The population of the Westgate ward in Gloucester was 6,687 at the time of the 2011 Census.
Handyside Bridge, also known as Derwent Bridge, is a former railway bridge in Darley Abbey, Derbyshire, England which was converted to a foot bridge in 1976 following closure of the railway in 1968.
The Old Wye Bridge or Town Bridge at Chepstow, also known historically as Chepstow Bridge, crosses the River Wye between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England, close to Chepstow Castle. Although there had been earlier wooden bridges on the site since Norman times, the current road bridge was constructed of cast iron in 1816 during the Regency period, by John Rastrick of Bridgnorth, who greatly modified earlier plans by John Rennie.
Belvidere Bridge is a cast iron arch railway bridge in Shrewsbury, western England, built for the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway in 1849. It carries the modern Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury railway line over the River Severn and is a grade II* listed building.