Severn Railway Bridge - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Severn Railway Bridge was a crossing

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

across the River Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

between Sharpness

Sharpness

Sharpness is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West. It is on the River Severn at , at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream , is still large .The village of Sharpness is pronounced with the...

and Lydney

Lydney

Lydney is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located on the west bank of the River Severn, close to the Forest of Dean. The town lies on the A48 road, next to the Lydney Park gardens with its Roman temple in honour of Nodens.-Transport:The Severn Railway...

, Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

. It was badly damaged in an accident involving river barges in 1960 and demolished in 1970.

Construction

It was built by the Severn Bridge Railway

Severn Bridge Railway

The Severn Bridge Railway was an early British railway company. It ran from Berkeley Road railway station to Sharpness railway station via the Sharpness Branch Line. It then went over the River Severn on the Severn Railway Bridge and to Lydney Junction railway station. It was opened in 1879 as a...

company in the 1870s to transport coal from the Forest of Dean

Forest of Dean

The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...

on the Severn and Wye Railway

Severn and Wye Railway

The Severn and Wye Railway was a small railway network in west Gloucestershire that was constructed to allow exploitation of the mineral resources of the Forest of Dean. The Severn and Wye Railway and Canal Company began construction of the tramway and the Lydney Canal in 1810. In 1868 the tramway...

. Work began in 1875 and was completed in 1879. The cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

bridge, which was 4162 feet (1,268.6 m) long and 70 feet (21.3 m) above high water, had 22 spans and had stone abutments made from local limestone. The span across the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal

Gloucester and Sharpness Canal

The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal or Gloucester and Berkeley Canal is a canal in the west of England, between Gloucester and Sharpness; for much of its length it runs close to the tidal River Severn, but cuts off a significant loop in the river, at a once-dangerous bend near Arlingham...

operated as a swing bridge

Swing bridge

A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...

History

The bridge was single-track, and it took approximately 30 miles (48.3 km) off the journey through Gloucester. The bridge predated the construction of the Severn Tunnel

Severn Tunnel

The Severn Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn....

, a dozen miles or so downstream, by seven years.
It was known by locals as 'The White Elephant'.

Until the Severn Road Bridge

Severn Bridge

The Severn Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between South Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol, England, and Monmouthshire in South Wales, via Beachley, a peninsula between the River Severn and River Wye estuary. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and...

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

Severn Bridge railway station

-History:The Severn Bridge Railway linked Lydney Junction railway station on the north bank of the River Severn with Sharpness Docks on the south bank via the Severn Railway Bridge. The railway joined up at Sharpness with the Sharpness Branch Line which had been built from Berkeley Road railway...

on the Lydney side, adjacent to the main line from Gloucester to Chepstow which the railway from the bridge crossed.

The bridge was used as a diversionary route for the Severn Tunnel

Severn Tunnel

The Severn Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn....

when this was closed for engineering work. The east-to-north curves at Westerleigh Junction

Westerleigh Junction

Westerleigh Junction is a railway junction in Gloucestershire, England, where the Cross Country Route from to Bristol meets the South Wales Main Line from London to , near the village of Westerleigh....

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

Berkeley Road railway station

Berkeley Road railway station served the towns of Berkeley and Dursley in Gloucestershire, England.-History:The station was one of the first six stations built on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, originally a broad gauge line overseen by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but later taken over by the...

.

In Spring 1943 a flight of three Spitfire

Supermarine Spitfire

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...

s was being delivered by ATA

Air Transport Auxiliary

The Air Transport Auxiliary was a British World War II civilian organisation that ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between UK factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, Maintenance Units , scrap yards, and active service squadrons and airfields—but not to...

pilots, including one woman, Ann Wood, from their Castle Bromwich

Castle Bromwich

Castle Bromwich is a suburb situated within the northern part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east, North Warwickshire to the east and north east; also Shard End to the south west, Castle Vale,...

factory to Whitchurch

Whitchurch, Bristol

Whitchurch is a village in north Somerset, England and an adjoining suburb of south eastern Bristol, bounded by Hartcliffe to the west and Hengrove and Knowle to the north. The suburb was initially developed during the 1930s....

. 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. 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.

Accident

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

Sharpness

, 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

Western Region of British Railways

The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...

of British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

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

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

Demolition

Demolition began in 1967 and took until 1970 for completion, 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

Aust Ferry

Aust Ferry or Beachley Ferry was a ferry service that operated across the River Severn between Aust and Beachley both in Gloucestershire, England. Before the Severn Bridge opened in 1966, it provided a daily service for road traffic crossing between the West Country and South Wales...

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.

External links

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