Windsor Railway Bridge is a wrought iron ' bow and string' bridge in

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic market town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British monarch. The town is situated west of ...

, crossing the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

on the reach between

Romney Lock Romney Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England near Windsor and Eton, about half a mile downstream of Windsor Bridge. It is on the Windsor side of the river next to a boatyard and adjoins Romney Island, a long strip-shaped ait in the ...

and

Boveney Lock Boveney Lock is a lock on the River Thames situated on the Buckinghamshire bank opposite the Windsor Racecourse and close to Eton Wick. Boveney is a village a little way upstream on the same side. The lock was first built in 1838 by the Th ...

. It carries the

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

between

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

and Windsor. The Windsor Railway Bridge was designed by the famed British

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...

, and is considered to be a forerunner to his last major work, the

Royal Albert Bridge The Royal Albert Bridge is a railway bridge which spans the River Tamar in England between Plymouth, Devon and Saltash, Cornwall. Its unique design consists of two lenticular iron trusses above the water, with conventional plate-girder app ...

. It was built during the 1840s to carry the

Slough to Windsor & Eton Line Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, ...

of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

(GWR). On account of concerns raised by the Provost of

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, the bridge had to cross the river while keeping it unobstructed in its entirety. Construction of the railway was subsequently authorised during 1848 and proceeded at a rapid pace, the line and bridge alike being first opened to traffic on 8 October 1849. During the early 1860s, the original wooden approach viaducts were replaced by arched brick counterparts. During 1908, the bridge's

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

piles were replaced by brick abutments, somewhat shortening its span to 184 ft 6in, as well as the replacement of both cross girders and rail bearers with

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

equivalents. While the Windsor Railway Bridge was originally built to carry a twin-track arrangement, only a single line has crossed the bridge since the railway was singled as a rationalisation measure during the 1960s. In 1975, the bridge became a Grade II* listed structure.

History

The construction of what would become

was an early ambition of the

(GWR), but had been delayed and thus unable to be included in the original

Parliamentary Act Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament be ...

obtained by the company on account of objections raised by the Provost of the nearby

. Parliamentary approval for the line was finally issued in 1848, but was accompanied by a provision for the protection of amenities pertaining to the college, which included the requirement that the

be kept clear where the railway crossed it, thus necessitating advanced design and materials. Irrespective of this complication, construction of the line and bridge alike commenced almost immediately. The

contractor A contractor is a person or company that performs work on a contract basis. The term may refer to: Business roles * Defense contractor, arms industry which provides weapons or military goods to a government * General contractor, an individual o ...

appointed to build the bridge was a Mr George Hannet. On 8 October 1849, the completed route was opened to traffic. Since its completion, numerous refurbishments and alternations to the original structure have been performed. Between 1861 and 1865, the original wooden

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

s forming the approaches to the Windsor Railway Bridge were replaced by arched brick equivalents. During 2019, the viaduct was visually restored, removing

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

Design

The Windsor Railway Bridge is a single-span structure, comprising three bowstring

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

es which formed two bays, each carrying one of the original pair of tracks traversing the bridge. It is believed to be the world's oldest

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 Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

railway bridge that remains in regular service.Isambard Kingdom Brunel
/ref> Designed by

, the bridge has been considered to be a forerunner of Brunel's final masterpiece, the

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

. Due to its historical and engineering significance, the Windsor Railway Bridge became a Grade II* listed structure in 1975. As originally built, the bridge had a skewed span of 202 ft, which were carried on six ft diameter

piles filled with

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

. However, during 1908, these piles were replaced by several brick abutments; this alteration also had the effect of reducing the bridge's span to 184 ft 6in. In conjunction with this work, other refurbishments of the bridge were carried out, such as the replacement of both cross girders and rail bearers with

counterparts. Although the bridge bore two tracks, that on the upstream (west) side was removed as one of the rationalisations of the 1960s. The resulting space has since been reused for a sewer and a water main. The accessing southern viaduct is to Windsor and Eton Central, which is at street level as to its castle end where the land is at similar height; the northern is , thus a single plain-spanning bridge-viaduct measures more than .

References

External links

Windsor Railway Bridge via nationaltransporttrust.org.uk

Windsor Branch Railway via history.networkrail.co.uk

{{Brunel Railway bridges in Berkshire Bridges completed in 1849 Bridges across the River Thames Buildings and structures in Windsor, Berkshire Grade II* listed buildings in Berkshire Bridges by Isambard Kingdom Brunel Tied arch bridges in the United Kingdom 1849 establishments in England Grade II* listed railway bridges and viaducts

History

Design

See also

References

External links