Changes

The bridge is listed Grade II* by Historic England for its special architectural or historic interest. <ref> [https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1100657 Victoria Bridge on the Historic England list]</ref>

The original [[The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership#Before construction: 1845-1858 | 1852 estimate]] for the construction of the Railway, which included £8,500 for "a girder bridge at Arley",<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17612/17612-h/17612-h.htm Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway, by J. Randall 1863]</ref>, also showed the station at Bridgnorth sited in the Low Town, east of the river. Although more convenient for the public, this would have required two further bridges, one south of the town near Quatford costing £8,000 and another north of the town near the present day golf course costing £9,000. A fourth bridge costing £10,000 was included near Shrewsbury in order to reach a junction with the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway. Cost saving measures adopted in the final railway plans resulted in the line remaining on the west bank and passing under High Town through [[Bridgnorth Tunnel]] instead, and joining the Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway, removing the need for these additional bridges.<ref Name = "Nabarro" />

The SVR began operations to Bewdley via Victoria Bridge in 1974. In that year they carried out a structural analysis of the bridge, which suggested that a loading of two tender locomotives with carriages would generate stresses in the main structure of the bridge not exceeding 2.6 tons/sq in (tension) and 6.2 tons/sq in (compression) against ultimate strength values of cast iron of 10 tons/sq in (tension) and 45 tons/sq in (compression). However it appeared that the bridge had last been re-decked by BR in the early 1950s, meaning a close watch would be kept on it.<ref name = "SVRNews58" />.

In 1978 the Board was advised that the time had come for a major refurbishment of the bridge. This began in November 1979; the work included the installation of 54 new steel beams to replace the old (rotten) transverse timber baulks which formed the decking, replacement of more than 50% of the plate-work by 6 tons of new top plate, and the replacement of 3,500 rivets by high tensile friction grip bolts. The amount of plate replaced was necessary to achieve the required structural strength for a 21 ton axle load as specified by the Railway Board. At the same time the bridge received a complete repaint using 1,200 litres of paint. The scaffolding used around 2 miles of tube and 2&frac12; miles of planking. The final cost was approximately £94,346, equivalent to almost £&frac12; million at 2015 prices. Despite adverse weather, the line was re-opened on time for Easter 1980,<ref Name="SVRNews58"/>, although the winter closure meant that Santa services were moved to the north end of the line.<ref>SVR News 54</ref>.

Another major refurbishment was carried out during the winter of 2003-04. The estimated cost was £320,000, of which a significant portion related to scaffolding. The work included the replacement of the 1970s wooden bridge deck with a new steel mesh deck. The bridge was re-opened by a young lady named Victoria Bridge from Cradley Heath. It was her first visit to the SVR.<ref>SVR News 146</ref> The refurbishment received a commendation in the Institution of Civil Engineers’ 2005 Historic Bridge and Infrastructure [[Awards]].