Belvidere Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 52°42′30″N2°42′46″W / 52.7083°N 2.7128°W /52.7083; -2.7128 |
| Carries | Wolverhampton–Shrewsbury line |
| Crosses | River Severn |
| Locale | Shrewsbury, England |
| Maintained by | Network Rail |
| Heritage status | Grade II*listed building |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Cast iron |
| No. of spans | 2 |
| Piers in water | 1 |
| History | |
| Constructed by | William Baker |
| Opened | 1849 |
| Location | |
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Belvidere Bridge (also speltBelvedere Bridge) is acast iron arch railway bridge inShrewsbury, western England, built for theShrewsbury and Birmingham Railway in 1849. It carries the modernWolverhampton to Shrewsbury railway line over theRiver Severn and is a grade II*listed building.[1]
TheShrewsbury and Birmingham Railway (SBR) opened fromShrewsbury as far asOakengates on 1 June 1849, and then toBirmingham on 12 November 1849. The Belvidere Bridge crosses theRiver Severn between the Belvidere area ofShrewsbury and the village ofUffington, just east of Shrewsbury town centre.[1]
The bridge is built incast iron and consists of twoskew arches with a 13 ft (4.0 m) central pier in the water. The pier and abutments are in dressed grey sandstone and retaining walls on the river banks are inengineering brick. Each arch is made up of six segments (or ribs), which were pre-cast at the iron foundry in nearbyCoalbrookdale and bolted together.[2][3][4] Each has a span of 101 ft 6 in (31 m) and a relatively low rise of 10 ft 8 in (3.25 m) above the river, giving it an unusually high span-to-rise ratio. Thespandrels are filled with decorative diamond-shaped latticework. An original cast-iron parapet was replaced in the 20th century with steel railings in keeping with the original.[1][3]
The central stone pier has a shield on each side. One the south side, the shield bears the name ofWilliam Baker, the engineer, and on the north side are the names of Hammond and Murray, the contractors. The metalwork on an outer rib on the south side contains the lettering "Coalbrookdale Foundry 1848".[2] The bridge was originally number 4 on the SBR and is now number 438.[3]
The bridge was built in 1848 by Hammond and Murray and designed by Baker, the SBR's resident engineer. The contract for its construction, valued at £80,000, was let separately from the rest of the line.[5] The bridge opened in 1849, with the rest of the line. Restoration work was carried out in the 1940s, and the central pier was given protection fromscour. In 1984, the cast-iron bridge deck was replaced with reinforced concrete. The bridge is approved to carry trains with a maximumaxle load of 25 tons.[1] It has been a grade II*listed building since 1985.[3]
Belvidere Bridge is one of four on the River Severn made of cast iron from the Coalbrookdale foundry. The first wasthe Iron Bridge (the world's first major cast-iron bridge) in Coalbrookdale itself. The other three are all railway bridges, of which Belvidere was the earliest. It was followed by two largely identical bridges, theVictoria Bridge nearUpper Arley (1862), and theAlbert Edward Bridge (1864) near Coalbrookdale.[6]
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