Keadby Bridge, more formally known as the King George V Bridge, crosses the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

near

Althorpe Althorpe is a small village in North Lincolnshire, England, 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. History The ''Dome ...

and

Keadby __NOTOC__ 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 p ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England. It was designed by Alfred Charles Gardner

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

MIME.

History

The

Scherzer rolling lift bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting 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 ...

carries both road and rail traffic across the River Trent. It was built between 1912 and 1916 by the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

to replace a previous swing bridge built by the

South Yorkshire Railway The South Yorkshire Railway was a railway company with lines in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Initially promoted as the South Yorkshire Coal Railway in 1845, the railway was enabled by an act of 1847 as the South Yorkshire Doncaster and ...

and opened in 1864. It carries a double track railway line on the southern side, and the two-lane, single carriageway

A18 road This is a list of roads designated A18. Roads are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * A18 motorway (Belgium), a road connecting Bruges and Dunkirk, France * A18 motorway (Italy), a road connecting Messina and Catania in Sicily * A18 ...

on the north side. The ''

Lincolnshire Echo The ''Lincolnshire Echo'' is a weekly British regional newspaper for Lincolnshire, whose first edition was on Tuesday 31 January 1893, and is published every Thursday. It is owned by Reach PLC and it is distributed throughout the county. The ...

'' 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 Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Situated between Manvers and Denaby Main, it lies on the River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road runs through the town. It is contiguous ...

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. 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. This was later modified to mains electricity. The bridge was controlled from a wooden

signal cabin On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetabl ...

, 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.Civil engineering heritage: Eastern and central England. E. A. Labrum At the same time, the signal cabin was removed from the bridge structure and the tracks on the railway were fixed in place. File:Plaque on Keadby Bridge 01.JPG, Plaque on Keadby Lifting Bridge regarding its opening on 21 May 1916 File:Keadby Bridge, from Althorpe Railway Station.jpg, Keadby Bridge, from

Althorpe Railway Station 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. Most services are provided by Northern Trains who operate the station. O ...

File:Keadby bridge signal box diagram.jpg, Signalling diagram of the former bridge signal box File:Keadby Bridge from upstream east bank.JPG, Keadby Bridge from upstream east bank

References

External links

Pathe newsreel of the bridge being lifted
{{River item box , River =

, upstream =

M180 motorway The M180 is a motorway in eastern England, starting at junction 5 on the M18 motorway in Hatfield, within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and terminating at Barnetby, Lincolnshire, some from the port of Immingham an ...

, upsub , downstream = None , downsub = , thisis = Keadby Bridge , type = , location = SE840106 Bridges in Lincolnshire Grade II listed buildings in Lincolnshire Grade II listed bridges Bridges across the River Trent Bridges completed in 1916 Railway bridges in Lincolnshire Bascule bridges Great Central Railway

History

See also

References

External links