Reedham Swing Bridge, on the site of a
Victorian 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 ...
, is still in use at
Reedham, Norfolk
Reedham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk and within The Broads. It is on the north bank of the River Yare, some east of the city of Norwich, south-west of the town of Great Yarmouth and the same distance north-wes ...
, England.
It carries the
Wherry railway line, between Norwich and Lowestoft, across the
River Yare
The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of The Broads and connects with the rest of the network.
The river rises south of Dereham to the west to the vil ...
near
Reedham railway station.
The original single track bridge was commissioned by Sir
Samuel Morton Peto
Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet (4 August 1809 – 13 November 1889) was an English entrepreneur, civil engineer and railway developer, and, for more than 20 years, a Member of Parliament (MP). A partner in the firm of Grissell and Peto, he ...
in the 1840s to allow the passage of
wherry
A wherry is a type of boat that was traditionally used for carrying cargo or passengers on rivers and canals in England, and is particularly associated with the River Thames and the River Cam. They were also used on the Broadland rivers of No ...
boats, which were too tall to pass under conventional bridges.
The current bridge dates from 1902–3 prior to the doubling of the track.
[The Lowestoft Train by Malcolm R White]
The bridge is operated from the 1904 Reedham Swing Bridge
signal box.
In a typical year, it is opened 1,300 times.
References
External links
{{Commons category, position=left
Bridges completed in the 1840s
Bridges completed in 1903
Swing bridges in England
Railway bridges in Norfolk