Description and History of Site:-
Goole Railway Swing Bridge carries the Doncaster to Hull railway line over the River Ouse. Designed by T. E. Harrison and constructed in 1869 by Butler and Pitts of Stanningley who undertook the fixed spans while the swinging span was by W. C. Armstrong & Co of Newcastle upon Tyne. When opened it was claimed to be the second largest railway swing bridge in the world and is still considered to be probably the finest example of its kind in the British Isles.
The bridge which has a total span of 831ft (253.3m) is made up of six sets of three hogback wrought iron plate girders supported on cast iron cylinder piers sunk up to 90ft (27.43m) into the bed of the River Ouse. There are five fixed spans of 116ft (35.35m) one at the east end and four at the west end while the swing span has girders 251ft (76.50m) long by 16ft (4.88m) deep and weighs 650 tons. The bridge swings on thirty six 3ft (0.91m) diameter rollers on a 30ft (9.14m) diameter race enclosed in a 50ft (15.24m) diameter pier and supported on a cluster of seven cylinders. This leaves two 100ft (30.48m) openings for navigation. The bridge was originally operated by hydraulic motors and took one minute to open.

Further Reading and References:-
Bardey M F, Civil Engineering Heritage Northern England, Thomas Telford, 1981 page 98, ICE HEW231

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Key Words :- railway swing bridge wrought iron plate girder

Viewing the Site :- Can be viewed from the river bank

Address :- Sandhall Road, Kilpin, Goole, East Yorkshire, DN14 7RP
Grid Ref :- SE 76499 24707
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.713185 , Long -0.842400
Local Authority :- East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II*
Historic England List No - 1346710,
Site Condition :- Operational site, in use for original purpose
Site Dates :- 1869 - current
Record Date :- 15 May 2015

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