The St. Julian's railway bridge is a crossing of the River Usk close to the city of Newport, South Wales. and currently carries the Welsh Marches Line across the river in a north—south direction. Due to the meanderings of the river, all the other crossings are east—west. The bridge was opened to traffic during 1874 by the

Pontypool, Caerleon and Newport Railway The Pontypool, Caerleon & Newport Railway was promoted independently to relieve congestion on the heavily worked Eastern Valley Line of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company. The Great Western Railway put up half the capital, making it in e ...

. Consisting of four brick-built arches and four

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

lattice truss A lattice bridge is a form of truss bridge that uses many small, closely spaced diagonal elements forming a lattice. The lattice Truss Bridge was patented in 1820 by architect Ithiel Town. Originally a design to allow a substantial bridge to be ma ...

spans with wrought iron cross girders and plate floors, the structure carries a pair of railway lines across the river. In the 1960s, the bridge underwent a strengthening and refurbishment programme; during the early 2010s, the viaduct was again subject to structural repairs and remedial works.

History

The origins of the St. Julian's railway bridge are closely associated with that of the

, for whom the structure was built for. Its construction was necessary for the line to traverse the River Usk. The bridge was originally completed during 1874. The viaduct has been subject to remedial works several times throughout its lifespan. During the 1960s, a major strengthening scheme was conducted under the auspices of nationalised railway operator British Rail. By the early 2010s, detailed surveys of the bridge had determined that the aging structure was once again in need of strengthening, thus national rail infrastructure owner

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

appointed

Balfour Beatty Balfour Beatty plc () is an international infrastructure group based in the United Kingdom with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, Balfour Beatty works acr ...

as the

prime contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

for planning and overseeing these works. During a six-month period across 2014, the bridge was subject to significant repairs to its steelwork and masonry, including the installation of additional bracing to strengthen the main deck; a major aim of these works was to increase the bridge's capacity wherever reasonable to do so. Throughout the project, efforts were made to minimise any impact on the passage of river traffic.

References

External links

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St Julian's Railway Bridge of Newport (Wales) via visitoruk.com

St. Julian's railway bridge via latitude.to
Bridges in Newport, Wales Railway bridges in Wales {{UK-bridge-struct-stub