Railway Structures
Brick bridges: Single track arch spans
Most overline arches span at least two tracks. Single track
arches may be used if there is little headroom, though use of an iron deck was
more usual in such cases.
Probably the best-known single track arch bridge on the Southern is Railway Approach bridge at Tonbridge station. There are four main arches, plus a fifth, smaller one on the north side, used by a footpath. The Up Passenger Loop is spanned by a concrete deck. A similar bridge used to be at Ashford.
A bridge rather like that at Tonbridge carried Battersea Park Road over the Brighton lines at Stewarts Lane. Now there is just one track under this bridge, the Battersea Reversible Line. Battersea Park Road crosses the Chatham Lines on a concrete deck bridge.
There is a series of single track arch bridges between Brockenhurst and Christchurch. This is Hinton Wood Avenue bridge at Hinton Admiral. There are some similar bridges on the Netley line.
Beechey Road bridge, at the country end of Bournemouth station, spanned not just the main line, but tracks into the engine shed. It had five arches in total, but only three remain in use. The spandrels and parapets are decorated with panelling.
The aqueduct carrying the Basingstoke Canal over the South Western main line between Pirbright Junction and Farnborough has a single arch for each track. A somewhat similar, but more ornate, structure carries Wellington Road over the railway at Fulwell. This is treated as a tunnel for operating purposes, as the canal aqueduct once was.
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This page was created 3 January 2010
