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Victoria Bridge

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additional info and history

The bridge was designed by the Severn Valley Railway's chief engineer, [[John Fowler]]. It is largely constructed from cast iron; manufacture of the ironwork was subcontracted to the Coalbrookdale Company. The foundation stone was laid on [[The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership# Construction: 1858-1861 | November 24th 1859]] by the SVR's resident engineer, [[Henry Orlando Bridgeman]], and the bridge was completed in May 1861. Its span, of 200ft, was at the time the largest iron arch span in the country<ref>Nabarro, G (1971), ''Severn Valley Steam''</ref>.

It was reported at the time of construction that a defective rib casting was tested to destruction under a load of 430 tons<ref name = "SVRNews58">SVR News 58, article by the consulting engineer to the 1979-80 refurbishment</ref>. There is a near-identical double track railway bridge spanning the river Severn upstream at [[Buildwas]]. This bridge is known as [[Albert Edward Bridge]], named after the eldest son of Queen Victoria, who was later crowned as Edward VII.<br> 

Although the deck of Victoria Bridge was built to single track width, the abutments were built wide enough for [[double track]], meaning the bridge could have relatively easily been converted to double track.

==Victoria Bridge in preservation==

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 on 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" />.

 

The railway photographer Paul Riley was killed by a fall from Victoria Bridge in August 1976.<ref>Krause, I, ''Paul Riley - An Appreciation'', retrieved 28th January 2015. [http://gwrarchive.org/site/sitel2ph/sitel3ph/tribute.php Link]</ref> Lineside photographers are not currently permitted to cross Victoria Bridge on foot.<ref>SVR (H) corporate document SMS-POL-135, ''Lineside Photographic Policy (Permits & PTS Course)'', Issue 1 (19th September 2012). [http://www.svrlive.com/Pages/Downloads.aspx Link to download page]</ref>

The bridge featured in the 1978 film [[The Thirty Nine Steps]], in the scene where Richard Hannay (Robert Powell) escapes from a train and hangs beneath the bridge.

The bridge underwent In 1978 the Board was advised that the time had come for a major overhaul over refurbishment of the winter of bridge. This began in November 1979-80, involving ; the work included the renewal installation of 65 cross-girders, 54 new steel beams to replace the old (rotten) transverse timber baulks which formed the decking, plateworkreplacement 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 repaintusing 1,200 litres of paint. The scaffolding used around 2 miles of tube and 2&frac12; miles of planking. The final cost was approximately £65£94,000346, equivalent to more than £360,000 almost £&frac12; million at 2015 prices. The 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>.

Following another major refurbishment pre-December 2008, the bridge was re-opened by a young lady named Victoria Bridge from Cradley Heath. It was her first visit to the SVR.

The bridge is subject to operating restrictions which means that two large engines may not work double headed over it.

 

==Gallery==

<gallery>

File:River Severn,Victoria railway bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1712127.jpg|Victoria Bridge with Upper Arley in the distance, showing the single track width

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