Warrington Transporter Bridge

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Warrington Transporter Bridge - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 53°23′02″N 2°36′27″W / 53.3838°N 2.6075°W

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Warrington Transporter Bridge

Coordinates	53°23′02″N 2°36′27″W / 53.3838°N 2.6075°W / 53.3838; -2.6075
Carries	Vehicles Pedestrians
Crosses	River Mersey
Locale	Warrington
Other name(s)	Bank Quay Transporter Bridge
Owner	Warrington Borough Council
Heritage status	Grade II*
Characteristics
Design	Transporter Bridge
Material	Steel
Total length	103 m (339 ft)
Width	9 m (30 ft)
Height	27 m (89 ft)
Longest span	61 m (200 ft)
Clearance below	23 m (76 ft)
History
Designer	William Henry Hunter
Constructed by	Sir William Arrol & Co.
Construction start	1913
Opened	1916
Closed	1964
Location

The Warrington Transporter Bridge (or Bank Quay Transporter Bridge) is a structural steel transporter bridge across the River Mersey in Warrington, Cheshire, England.

Design

It was designed by William Henry Hunter and built by Sir William Arrol & Co. The bridge has a span of 200 ft (61 m), is 30 ft (9.1 m) wide, 76 ft (23 m) feet above high water level, with an overall length of 339 ft (103 m) feet and a total height of 89 ft (27 m).^[1]

History

It was constructed in 1916/7 ^[2] and fell into disuse in approximately 1964. The bridge was constructed to connect the two parts of the large chemical and soap works of Joseph Crosfield and Sons. It was originally designed to carry rail vehicles up to 18 long tons (18 tonnes) in weight, and was converted for road vehicles in 1940. In 1953, it was further modified to carry loads of up to 30 long tons (30 tonnes).^[1]

It was the second of two transporter bridges across the Mersey at Warrington. The first was erected in 1906 and opened in 1907 ^[3] slightly to the north of the existing bridge and was later transformed into a pipeline bridge, before it was demolished.

It is one of three remaining such bridges in the UK.

Regeneration

The bridge is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building,^[4] and because of its poor condition it is on the Heritage at Risk Register.^[5] The bridge is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.^[6]

A local group called Friends of Warrington Transporter Bridge (FoWTB) was formed in April 2015 to act as the independent voice of the bridge. The group is liaising with other interest groups to safeguard the future of the bridge and its industrial heritage status.^[7] FoWTB has been featured on the local BBC News programme, North West Tonight^[8] and has set up a website for the bridge^[7] along with Facebook and Twitter pages. In 2016, the bridge was nominated for the Institution of Civil Engineers North West Heritage Award.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b Rennison, p. 267
^ still under construction at January 1917 (Liverpool Echo 3 January 1917)
^ Runcorn Examiner 18 May 1907
^ Historic England, "Transporter Bridge to part of Joseph Crosfield and Sons Ltd's works, Warrington (1139433)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 August 2012
^ Bank Quay Transporter Bridge, Warrington, English Heritage, retrieved 28 August 2012
^ Historic England, "Bank Quay Transporter Bridge, Warrington (1006768)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 August 2012
^ ^a ^b "Warrington Transporter Bridge", Friends of Warrington Transporter Bridge, retrieved 14 June 2015
^ "Warrington Transporter Bridge on North West Tonight", YouTube, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 18 June 2015
^ North West - civil engineering awards, Institution of Civil Engineers, retrieved 15 February 2016

Bibliography

Rennison, R.W., "Civil Engineering Heritage : Northern England", Thomas Telford Publishing, 2nd edn., 1996, ISBN 0-7277-2518-1
Thompson, Dave, "Bridging the Years", MailBook Publishing, 2000

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Warrington Transporter Bridge.

Official website
Map sources for Warrington Transporter Bridge
Picture on geograph
"Bank Quay transporter bridge, Warrington – Warrington (UA)", English Heritage, Heritage at Risk Register
Heritage at Risk Register: Warrington+Transporter

Design

History

Regeneration

See also

References

External links