Keadby Bridge

Last updated

Keadby Bridge
Keadby Bridge.jpg
Keadby Bridge
Coordinates 53°35′09″N0°43′52″W / 53.5857°N 0.7311°W / 53.5857; -0.7311 Coordinates: 53°35′09″N0°43′52″W / 53.5857°N 0.7311°W / 53.5857; -0.7311
Crosses River Trent
Other name(s)King George V Bridge
Heritage status Grade II listed structure
Characteristics
Total length548 feet (167 m)
Longest span150 feet (46 m)
History
Opened1916
Location
Keadby Bridge

Keadby Bridge, more formally known as the King George V Bridge, crosses the River Trent near Althorpe and Keadby in Lincolnshire, England. It was designed by Alfred Charles Gardner FRSE MIME. [1]

Contents

History

The Scherzer rolling lift bridge carries both road and rail traffic across the River Trent. It was built between 1912 and 1916 by the Great Central Railway to replace a previous swing bridge built by the South Yorkshire Railway and opened in 1864. [2] It carries a double track railway line on the southern side, and the two-lane, single carriageway A18 road on the north side.

The Lincolnshire Echo reported that the first passenger train to cross the new bridge left Althorpe Station at 10:35am on 21 May 1916. The train was driven by Herbert Duke of Mexborough and, on the invitation of Sir Sam Fay, Joshua Slowan of Barnetby, who had driven the first passenger train across the old bridge, rode on the engine. [3]

Its 50-metre (163 ft) electrically powered bascule (lifting span) was one of the first of its type in Britain and, when built, was the largest in Europe. Designed by James Ball and C A Rowlandson and built by contractors Sir William Arrol & Co., it has three main spans and two approach spans. The eastern main span was the one that lifted. The Scherzer bascule rolled and rotated on counterbalance. It was electrically powered, originally by a large storage battery fed by petrol-driven generators housed in the engine room beneath the east approach span. [4] This was later modified to mains electricity.

The bridge was controlled from a wooden signal cabin, mounted by the north-east side of the lifting (east) span. The cabin was equipped with a 28-lever frame of British Pneumatic Railway Signal Company design.

The bridge has not been lifted since 1956. In 1960, it was widened and the headroom increased, and the bascule was fixed in position. [5] At the same time, the signal cabin was removed from the bridge structure and the tracks on the railway were fixed in place.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower Bridge</span> Bascule and suspension bridge in London, England

Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust founded in 1282. The bridge was constructed to give better access to the East End of London, which had expanded its commercial potential in the 19th century. The bridge was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra, Princess of Wales in 1894.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bascule bridge</span> Moveable bridge with a counterweight which keeps the span(s) balanced during the upswing

A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or double-leafed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1</span> Railroad bridge in Portland, Oregon

The Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1 or BNSF Railway Bridge 5.1, also known as the St. Johns Railroad Bridge or the Willamette River Railroad Bridge, is a through truss railway bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. Built by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (SP&S) and completed in 1908, it was originally a swing-span bridge, and its swing-span section was the longest in the world at the time. However, 81 years later the main span was converted from a swing-type to a vertical-lift type, in order to widen the navigation channel. The lift span is one of the highest and longest in the world. The bridge consists of five sections, with the two sections closest to the bank on each side fixed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moveable bridge</span>

A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with drawbridge, and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical definition used in some other forms of English, in which drawbridge refers to only a specific type of moveable bridge often found in castles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Althorpe</span> Small village in North Lincolnshire, England

Althorpe is a small village in North Lincolnshire, England, four miles (6 km) west of Scunthorpe and the same distance south-east of Crowle, on the A18 road. The population details are included in the civil parish of Keadby with Althorpe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Althorpe railway station</span> Railway station in North Lincolnshire, England

Althorpe railway station serves the village of Althorpe in North Lincolnshire, England. The station is also very close to the villages of Keadby, Gunness and Burringham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keadby</span> Small village in North Lincolnshire, England

Keadby is a small village in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated just off the A18, west of Scunthorpe, and on the west bank of the River Trent. Keadby is in the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. The appropriate civil parish is called Keadby with Althorpe with a population at the 2011 census of 1,930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CRRNJ Newark Bay Bridge</span> Railroad bridge connecting Elizabethport and Bayonne

The Newark Bay Bridge of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) was a railroad bridge in New Jersey that connected Elizabethport and Bayonne at the southern end of Newark Bay. Its third and final incarnation was a four-track vertical-lift design that opened in 1926, replacing a bascule bridge from 1904 which superseded the original swing bridge from 1887. The bridge served the main line of the CNJ, carrying daily interstate trains as well as commuter trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stainforth and Keadby Canal</span> Canal in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England

The Stainforth and Keadby Canal is a navigable canal in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. It connects the River Don Navigation at Bramwith to the River Trent at Keadby, by way of Stainforth, Thorne and Ealand, near Crowle. It opened in 1802, passed into the control of the River Don Navigation in 1849, and within a year was controlled by the first of several railway companies. It became part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation, an attempt to remove several canals from railway control, in 1895. There were plans to upgrade it to take larger barges and to improve the port facilities at Keadby, but the completion of the New Junction Canal in 1905 made this unnecessary, as Goole could easily be reached and was already a thriving port.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Avenue Bridge</span> Bridge in Chicago, Illinois

The North Avenue Bridge can refer to one of three bridges that has carried North Avenue over the North Branch of the Chicago River on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. A center-pier swing bridge built in 1877 was replaced in 1907 by a bascule bridge, allowing river traffic more room for maneuvering in and out of the North Canal, just north of Goose Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingsferry Bridge</span> Road-rail bridge in Kent, England

The Kingsferry Bridge is a combined road and railway vertical-lift bridge which connects the Isle of Sheppey to mainland Kent in South East England. The seven-span bridge has a central lifting span which allows ships to pass.

The South Yorkshire Railway was a railway company with lines in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

The original Keadby railway station was the easternmost terminus of the South Yorkshire Railway. The railway, which was extended from Thorne and opened in September 1859 was built without an Act of Parliament, as the railway company owned the canal alongside which they built the line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunness</span> Village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England

Gunness is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated 3 miles (5 km) west from Scunthorpe, and on the east bank of the River Trent. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,462.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corporation Bridge</span> Bridge in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire

The Corporation Bridge is a Scherzer rolling lift bascule bridge over the Old Dock in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England. Built in 1925, it replaced an earlier swing bridge dating to 1872.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amtrak Old Saybrook–Old Lyme Bridge</span> Railroad bridge in Connecticut, US

The Amtrak Old Saybrook–Old Lyme Bridge is the last crossing of the Connecticut River before it reaches Long Island Sound. It is a Truss bridge with a bascule span, allowing boat traffic to pass through. The bridge is owned by Amtrak and used by Northeast Regional, Acela Express, Shore Line East and a few freight trains traversing the Northeast Corridor. It can be seen from the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge, as well as from various points on Route 154.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crook Point Bascule Bridge</span> Bridge in between Providence and East Providence

The Crook Point Bascule Bridge is a defunct Scherzer rolling lift railway bridge which spans the Seekonk River, connecting the city of Providence, Rhode Island, to the city of East Providence. Stuck in the open position since its abandonment in 1976, it is known to nearby residents as the "Stuck-Up Bridge" and has become somewhat of a local icon of urban decay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Torne</span> River in the north of England

The River Torne is a river in the north of England, which flows through the counties of South Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. It rises at the Upper Lake at Sandbeck Hall, in Maltby in South Yorkshire, and empties into the River Trent at Keadby pumping station. Much of the channel is engineered, as it plays a significant role in the drainage of Hatfield Chase, which it crosses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Donald Scherzer</span> American engineer and inventor

William Donald Scherzer was an American engineer and inventor who invented the rolling lift bridge.

References

  1. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: May 1953: obituaries
  2. Manchester Times, Saturday 21 May 1864
  3. Lincolnshire Echo, Monday 22 May 1916
  4. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, volume 203 (1916-17).
  5. Civil engineering heritage: Eastern and central England. E. A. Labrum
Next crossing upstream River Trent Next crossing downstream
M180 motorway Keadby Bridge
Grid reference SE840106
None