Cawood Bridge is a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

which spans the Yorkshire River Ouse in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Construction was authorised in 1870, with the formation of the Cawood Bridge bridge company. It was opened on 31 July 1872 to replace the

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

, and is located about halfway between

Naburn Naburn is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the eastern side of the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse about south of York. According to the 2001 census the pari ...

and

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

. It is the only bridge from the village of

Cawood Cawood (other names: ''Carwood'') is a large village (formerly a market town) and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England that is notable as the finding-place of the Cawood sword. It was historically part of the West Rid ...

that crosses the river. It is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The local population at Cawood considered the ferry crossing to be slow and, sometimes even dangerous. The proposal for a bridge to replace the ferry crossing gained Royal Assent in 1870. The bridge was opened in July 1872 at a cost of £12,000. It has five spans, two of which are the swing section and extends to , even though the width of the river at the bridge's location is .

Operations

The bridge, whose maintenance is the responsibility of North Yorkshire County Council, had a weight limit of until 2017, when extra strengthening work was undertaken raising the weight limit to .

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

cameras are installed to monitor traffic not adhering to the weight limit or red lights, and to allow officials to see traffic in both directions. It is the policy of the county council to prosecute any overweight vehicle, or vehicle jumping the red lights, caught on CCTV. Previous fines have been as much as £900. Crossing vehicles used to be charged a toll, but this system was scrapped in 1882, when the North Riding County Council bought the bridge. The bridge has experienced numerous problems, due partly to its age, but mainly due to the increasing numbers of heavy goods vehicles and heavily laden farm vehicles using the bridge and causing damage, especially when they have loads in excess of the maximum gross weight (MGW). Issues have included the locking pin falling out of place, cracks forming in the supporting structure, and jamming of the swing mechanism, which has caused heavy traffic delays and tailbacks.

2003 closure

In October 2003, the bridge was closed for five days for urgent repair work, after a vehicle collided with a safety barrier. Later inspection discovered that the York end of the bridge was about to fail due to three large cracks in one of the supporting steel plates, which ran the full length of the bridge. River traffic was halted, and new plates were fitted within hours, as a temporary measure. Permanent repairs involved a steel plate, twice the thickness of the original, being fitted along the entire deck.

2015 floods

In late December 2015, heavy rainfall led to flooding across large parts of northern England and Wales. The Ouse at Cawood flowed over the deck of the bridge.

References

{{coord, 53.8337, -1.1282, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Bridges in North Yorkshire Bridges completed in 1872 Swing bridges in England Bridges across the River Ouse, Yorkshire Former toll bridges in England Grade II listed bridges Grade II listed buildings in North Yorkshire Cawood