Hawarden Bridge

Hawarden Bridge
Official name	Hawarden Bridge
Carries	Borderlands Line
Crosses	River Dee
Locale	Deeside
Maintained by	Network Rail
Designer	Mr C A Hobson
Design	Swing bridge
Longest span	85 m (278 ft)
Number of spans	3
Construction begin	16 August 1887
Opened	3 August 1889
Coordinates	53.2172°N 3.0332°W / 53.2172; -3.0332

A 1906 Railway Clearing House map showing the bridge's location

Hawarden Bridge is a railway bridge over the River Dee, near to Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (which later became the Great Central Railway), as part of the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway. It opened in 3 August 1889.

The central section, which was designed as a swing bridge to allow shipping to pass, no longer opens and is welded shut, although the rotating mechanism - hydraulic cylinders attached to a drive chain and sprocket - is still visible beneath the bridge.

The bridge is now part of the Borderlands Line from Wrexham to Bidston.

Hawarden Bridge railway station is on the north side of the bridge, while Shotton station is on the south side.

See also

• List of bridges in Wales

External links

• Hawarden Bridge and Dee Marsh (photographs by David Sallery)
• Photographs from BBC
• Central section photo