Wilford Suspension Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 52°56′00″N1°08′21″W / 52.9332°N 1.1393°W Coordinates: 52°56′00″N1°08′21″W / 52.9332°N 1.1393°W |
OS grid reference | SK 57936 37665 |
Carries | Pedestrians, water main and gas pipelines |
Crosses | River Trent [1] [2] |
Locale | City of Nottingham [1] [2] |
Other name(s) | Meadows Suspension Bridge [2] |
Owner | originally: Nottingham Corporation Water Department, then: Severn Trent Water Authority, now: Severn Trent Water [3] |
Heritage status | Grade II listed structure [1] [2] |
Preceded by | Wilford Toll Bridge |
Followed by | Trent Bridge |
Characteristics | |
Design | Suspension bridge [1] |
Material | Stone-clad towers, twin dual steel suspension cables, ashlar and steel [1] [2] |
Width | 12 feet (3.7 metres) |
Traversable? | Yes |
Longest span | 225 feet (69 metres) |
No. of spans | One |
History | |
Architect | Arthur Brown |
Engineering design by | Elliott & Brown |
Constructed by | Nottingham Corporation Water Department |
Construction cost | £8,871 (equivalent to £940,000 in 2021), [4] |
Opened | 1906 [1] [2] |
Rebuilt | 2008–2010 [3] |
Location | |
Wilford Suspension Bridge, also known as Meadows Suspension Bridge, [2] was originally known as the Welbeck Suspension Bridge. It is a combined suspension footbridge [1] for pedestrians and cyclists, and aqueduct which crosses the River Trent, linking the town of West Bridgford to the Meadows, in the city of Nottingham, England. [1] It also carries a gas main.
The bridge is owned by Severn Trent Water. [3] It should not be confused with the separate Wilford Toll Bridge.
There is no public right of way along the bridge, and so it can be closed by Severn Trent Water whenever it is deemed expedient to do so.
It is a Grade II listed structure. [1] [2]
The bridge was designed by the engineer Arthur Brown, [5] of Elliott & Brown (Civil and Structural Engineering Consultancy). The plans were drawn up by Frank Beckett Lewis, the City Architect. It was constructed by the Nottingham Corporation Water Department at a cost of £8,871 (equivalent to £940,000 in 2021), [4] with the principal purpose of carrying water to Wilford Hill reservoir.
Responsibility for the bridge was transferred from the Nottingham Corporation Water Department to the Severn Trent Water Authority in April 1974, upon the reorganisation of the water industry in England and Wales, and subsequently to Severn Trent Water in 1989 prior to the privatisation of the water industry.
Following a restoration in 1983, [2] the bridge was closed to pedestrians in July 2008 for a major restoration, following reports of falling debris. [6] [3] It re-opened on 12 February 2010 after a £1.9m refurbishment. [3]
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical suspenders, have a long history in many mountainous parts of the world.
The River Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and spring snowmelt, which in the past often caused the river to change course.
West Bridgford is a town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Rushcliffe in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies immediately south of the city of Nottingham, from which the River Trent divides it. Forming part of the Nottingham Urban Area, West Bridgford is a commuter town for the city. The population was estimated at 48,225 in 2018. The town is part of the constituency of Rushcliffe, which is held by Ruth Edwards of the Conservative Party.
The Nottingham Canal is a canal in the English counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. As built, it comprised a 14.7-mile (23.7 km) long main line between the River Trent just downstream of Trent Bridge in Nottingham and Langley Mill in Derbyshire. At the same time as the main line of the canal was built by its proprietors, the separate Trent Navigation Company built the Beeston Cut, from the main line at Lenton in Nottingham to rejoin the River Trent upstream of Nottingham, thus bypassing the difficult section of navigation through Trent Bridge. The section of the main line between Trent Bridge and Lenton, together with the Beeston Cut, is still in use, forming part of the navigation of the River Trent and sometimes referred to as the Nottingham & Beeston Canal. The remainder of the main line of the canal beyond Lenton has been abandoned and partially filled.
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