Description and History of Site:-
Railway Bridge originally of 1850, but modified substantially in 1903. In the early days of main line railways, Robert Stephenson's London and Birmingham Railway was the first link in the route from London to the North. Another link was George Stephenson's North Midland Railway from Derby to Leeds, and its connection to York from Altofts, near Normanton, the York and North Midland Railway. This passes through Burton Salmon. A short branch was built from there via Ferrybridge (on the Great North Road) to Knottingley where it joined the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway which ran parallel to the Aire and Calder Navigation. Another branch south from Knottingley to Askern (a few miles north of Doncaster) made it possible for the Great Northern Railway in 1850 to form a new route northward from London (King's Cross). For a time therefore the Knottingley Branch from Burton Salmon became part of the east coast main line and its crossing of the River Aire at Brotherton, close to what is now Ferrybridge Power Station, merited a bridge of some magnitude. It was in fact similar to the Tubular Bridge at Conwy (HEW 108) and built by J.C. Birkinshaw to the requirements of Robert Stephenson. Birkinshaw had worked with Stephenson on the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway.

Brotherton Bridge had twin tubes 250 ft long, 20 ft 6 in high, 11 ft wide separated by 2 ft and with a lead of 25 ft to take care of the skew. The substructure was appropriately monumental, although altered somewhat when the tubes were replaced in 1901-03 by a pair of 250 ft steel Whipple Murphy trusses at 30 ft 6 in centres, with some 18 underslung cross girders carrying railbearers and longitudinal timbers. Two plaques record both the original and the present bridges, the latter being designed by W.J. Cudworth and built by the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co Ltd of Darlington under the supervision of W. D. Rudgard.

Further Reading and References:-
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/487196

Barby M F, Civil Engineering Heritage Northern England, Thomas Telford, 1981

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Key Words :- railway bridge river

Viewing the Site :- From Low Street, Brotherton

Address :- Low Street, Knottingley, West Yorkshire, WF11 9HQ
Grid Ref :- SE 48197 25480
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.723507 , Long -1.271050
Local Authority :- Wakefield Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site extant - Protected status unknown
Site Condition :- Operational site, in use for original purpose
Site Dates :- 1850 / 1903 - current
Record Date :- 28 September 2016

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © John Suter