Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, Cornwall, UK - Railroad Bridges on Waymarking.com

When the Cornwall Railway Act received the Royal Assent on August 3rd 1846 it contained a condition that the steam ferry across the Tamar should be replaced by a high-level bridge. Saltash was chosen as the crossing point. Here the river was 1,100 feet wide and the required clearance under the bridge could be provided. The Admiralty stipulated that the floor of the bridge should be 100 feet above the highest tide to allow warships to pass underneath. Brunel's first plan involved building a single-span bridge of some 850 feet but this had never been attempted before and the idea was replaced by a main span of 255 feet and six smaller spans of 105 feet each at a height of 80 feet above high water. This plan did not comply with the Admiralty's requirement so it had to be dropped. Another plan followed which would have provided two main spans of 300 feet each and two side spans of 200 feet, this time at the correct height. This plan failed when it was found that there was no natural rock at the base of the river upon which to construct the three piers that would be required to support the bridge. Finally Brunel came up with an acceptable proposal: one pier in mid-stream supporting two spans of 455 feet each with seven approach spans on the Devon side and ten on the Cornish. This did not entirely solve all the problems as there was still no natural foundation for the one pier and there was no-where to secure the tension chains of the suspension bridge. Brunel overcame this problem by taking inspiration from the bridge he had already constructed at Chepstow. Brunel came up with the idea of making his trusses self-supporting. Each truss consisted of an oval tube of wrought iron, sixteen feet by twelve, made in the form of an arch with chains to support the deck. The pier in the centre of the river was built using a large cylinder to allow the builders to get down to bed of the river and construct the foundations on solid rock. The bridge was originally designed to be wide enough of two tracks but this had to be amended after the Cornwall Railway ran into financial problems. The bridge finally opened on Monday May 2nd 1859 by His Royal Highness, Prince Albert. I.K Brunel was not at the opening as his health had failed him. He did see the completed bridge not long before he died on September 5th 1859. Some of his friends on the Board of the Cornwall Railway had the legend "I K Brunel, Engineer, 1859" placed over the archways at each end of the Bridge. These are still to been seen to this day.

Bridge Type: Other Bridge Usage: Railroad Moving Bridge: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/11/2015 MoreOutdoor visited it 10/15/2008 Sir Lose-a-lot visited it

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