Severn Railway Bridge

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Severn Railway Bridge
'The White Elephant'[1]

Severn Railway Bridge in July 1948
Crosses River Severn
Locale Lydney - Sharpness
Designer George Baker Keeling
Total length 4,162 feet (1,269 m)
Vertical clearance 70 feet (21 m)
Construction begin 1875
Construction end 1879
Preceded by Severn Tunnel
Collapsed 25 October 1960
A 1946 Ordnance Survey map showing the bridge and branch line.

The Severn Railway Bridge was a crossing across the River Severn between Sharpness and Lydney, Gloucestershire. It was badly damaged in an accident involving river barges in 1960 and demolished in 1970.

Contents

[edit] Construction

It was built by the Severn Bridge Railway company in the 1870s to transport coal from the Forest of Dean on the Severn and Wye Railway. Work began in 1875 and was completed in 1879. The cast iron bridge, which was 4,162 feet (1,269 m) long and 70 feet (21 m) above high water, had 22 spans and had stone abutments made from local limestone. The span across the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal operated as a swing bridge.[2]

[edit] History

The bridge was single-track, and it took approximately 30 miles (48 km) off the journey through Gloucester. The bridge predated the construction of the Severn Tunnel, a dozen miles or so downstream, by seven years. It was known by locals as 'The White Elephant'.[1]

Until the Severn Road Bridge was opened in 1966, the Severn Railway Bridge was often referred to as the Severn Bridge. There was a small station known as Severn Bridge station on the Lydney side, adjacent to the main line from Gloucester to Chepstow which the railway from the bridge crossed.[3]

The bridge was used as a diversionary route for the Severn Tunnel when this was closed for engineering work. The east-to-north curves at Westerleigh Junction used for this route were closed when the bridge was abandoned. This was also the case for the south-to-west curve at Berkeley Road.

In Spring 1943 a flight of three Spitfires was being delivered by ATA pilots, including one woman, Ann Wood, from their Castle Bromwich factory to Whitchurch. As it was low tide, the lead pilot Johnnie Jordan decided to fly under the bridge. Some time later, Ann Wood repeated this underflying - without realising that this time it was high tide and there was 30 ft less headroom.[4] This was not the only instance of pilots buzzing the bridge; it was seemingly so common at one time that a local policeman was tasked with recording serial numbers.

[edit] Accident

After the accident, taken in April 1966
Wreckage of the barges, Arkendale H (bows, left) and Wastdale H (stern right), still visible today at low water.

On 25 October 1960, there was thick fog and a strong tide; two barges carrying petroleum (the Arkendale H and the Wastdale H) overshot Sharpness Dock, were carried upstream and collided with one of the columns of the bridge. Two spans of the twenty-two span steel and cast iron bridge collapsed. Part of the structure hit the barges, setting fire to them. Five people died in the incident. In February 1961 a further span collapsed.

The Western Region of British Rail planned to reconstruct the bridge but after further damage to the bridge in 1961, it considered the bridge to be damaged beyond economic repair.[1] Following the accident, schoolchildren who had used the bridge daily had to be taken to school on a 40-mile detour via Gloucester.

[edit] Demolition

Remaining tower of the swing section over the canal today

Demolition began in 1967 and took until 1970 for completion,[1][5] although evidence of several of the piers remains. Most notable is that between the canal and river, a large circular pier that formed the base of the swinging section. Some piers are mere foundations, only visible at low tide, as are the wrecks of the petrol barges.

The river at this point has always had hazardous tidal currents, which is what led to the two petroleum barges getting out of control before the collision. A demolition support vessel, the Severn King which was one of the old Aust Ferry boats replaced when the Severn Road Bridge had opened, broke its mooring in the tide, struck the remains of the bridge, and was also sunk.[1]

[edit] References

  • Awdry, Christopher, (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing.
  • Disasters on the Severn, Chris Witts
  1. ^ a b c d e Ron Huxley, The rise and fall of the Severn Bridge Railway, 1984, ISBN 978-1-84868-033-3
  2. ^ Paget-Tomlinson, Edward (2006). The Illustrated History of Canal & River Navigations 3rd edition. Landmark Publishing Ltd. pp. 124–125. ISBN 1843062070. 
  3. ^ Victoria County History of Gloucestershire: Lydney
  4. ^ Giles Whittell (2007). Spitfire Women of World War II. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-00-723536. 
  5. ^ Biddle, Gordon (2003). Britain's Historic Railway Buildings. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 299, "Purton". ISBN 0198662475. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Severn Railway Bridge

Coordinates: 51°43′58″N 2°28′26″W / 51.73267°N 2.47400°W / 51.73267; -2.47400

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