Staines Railway Bridge
Staines Railway Bridge is a railway viaduct in Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, around west of central London. It carries the Waterloo to Reading line across the Thames. Immediately to the east is Thames Street bridge, which carries the railway over the B376 and the Thames Path.
Description
Staines Railway Bridge carries the two tracks of the electrified Waterloo to Reading line across the River Thames in Surrey, South East England. The bridge is upstream of London Bridge and has a total length of. It is built of wrought iron girders supported on six cast iron pillars, embedded in the river bed.The central span is and the two adjacent spans are. There are four brick flood arches on the southern bank, each with a span of. The clearance below the bridge for river traffic is.
History
The Staines, Wokingham and Woking Railway Act 1853 authorised the Staines, Wokingham and Woking railway to build a line between and railway stations. Staines Railway Bridge was designed by John Gardner and was built by Cochrane & Co at a total cost of around £10,000. The bridge was completed in 1856, and the first part of the railway line, between Staines and, opened on 6 July that year. The SWWR merged with the London and South Western Railway in 1878. The main bridge girders were strengthened in 1915, and the line across the viaduct was electrified in 1937.During the Second World War, the line was used to transport supplies to Portsmouth Naval Base and the bridge was guarded by a dedicated army platoon of around 25 soldiers. In 1995, a yellow stripe was painted onto each side of the viaduct in a £15,000 experimental project to prevent swans from flying into it.