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→Construction: Red Ruston first crossing
For the construction of the bridge, the SVR acted as the agent of the County Council. Consulting Civil Engineers, Edwards and Blackie, were responsible for the design of the bridge and a local firm of contractors, Jeavons, were appointed to carry out the actual construction of all but the steelwork. The fabrication of the steelwork was by [[David Owen#Rubery_Owen|Rubery Owen Steelwork]]. The bridge consists of two steel girders 76ft in length resting on concrete abutments, carried in turn on piles driven deep into the sandstone bedrock. The bridge has a concrete deck, cast in situ, rather than the normal longitudinal timbers used elsewhere on the line, allowing the track to be sleepered as normal on a ballasted base.
Preparatory work was carried out in autumn 1982, with the track being lifted on the morning of 1 November and excavation beginning the same day.<ref name=SVR66/> By Christmas, the concrete abutments and anchor blocks were completed and the embankments back-filled around them. The steelwork was delivered in the first week of 1983 and installed during January. The concrete pour took place on 9 February, with track being re-laid on 27 February. The first vehicle over the bridge was the [[Smiths, Rodley DW35 6-ton steam crane|6-ton steam crane]], while the following day morning the [[Ruston and Hornsby 165hp Diesel Shunter 319290|"Red Ruston"]] became the first diesel locomotive to cross. [[43106]], [[80079]] and [[4930]] returned from main line duties at Hereford on the same day and became the first steam locomotives to cross the new bridge.<ref>SVR News 67</ref>
The bridge was completed in time for the line to re-open for the [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 1980-1989#1983 | 1983]] season. However construction of the bypass required lowering the B4555 Highley road to pass underneath it, and consequently increasing the height of the railway embankment. Less than two months later, the embankment collapsed a few yards beyond the bridge (the area on the left of the photo below). Shropshire County Council and the SVR worked jointly for 14 hours a day seven days a week to reopen the line three weeks later.
