Kingston Road bridge, Wimbledon Chase, photographed on 11th August 2007. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

Kingston Road bridge, Wimbledon Chase. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

Kingston Road bridge is also on the Wimbledon to Sutton line, at Wimbledon Chase. It has no main girder between the tracks, so the cross beams have to be quite substantial. That, together with the significant span, requires the outer main beams to be stronger and, therefore, deeper. It is, therefore, possible for them to act as parapets without any upper extension. The bridge deck is corrugated steel sheet.

Brighton Road bridge, Redhill, photographed on 14th October 2007. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

Brighton Road bridge, Redhill. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

Brighton Road bridge, between Redhill and Reigate, is another with no central main beam and substantial cross beams.

Braybrooke Road bridge, Hastings, photographed on 4th May 2009. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

Braybrooke Road bridge, Hastings. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

Braybrooke Road bridge, Hastings, is to a special design because it is where tracks converged at the west end of the station. This meant that some trains crossed the bridge at an angle to the girders. The structure is stronger than would be the case for a straightforward double track line, to support the weight of pointwork and to resist the angular forces applied by the trains. Between the outer beams there are 14 closely-spaced box-section beams. The track layout has been reduced and simplified since the bridge was constructed. The small rectangular plaque on the eastern pilaster commemorates renovation of the bridge in 1991 funded by the British Rail Community Unit, Hastings Borough Council, Royal Mail Letters (which has an adjoining sorting office) and the Neighbourhood Revitalisation Service.

Bridge 27A, which takes the down lines over Half Moon Lane at Herne Hill, is also a special structure to support pointwork. It was constructed when the line through Herne Hill station was quadrupled. Bridge 27, which is immediately adjacent, carries the up lines and is of conventional construction, with three main beams supporting cross-beams.

Deck construction of Bridge 27A (nearest), contrasting with Bridge 27. Photographed on 3rd May 2010. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

Bridge 27, Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

This view, looking south from Herne Hill station, shows how Bridge 27 (to the right) originally carried the up and down lines. Now it supports the Up Main and Up Loop lines. The Up Main crosses the span that originally supported the Down Main so there is a dog-leg in the main lines beyond the bridge. The Down Main and Down Loop lines converge on Bridge 27A (to the left), necessitating the special design of supporting structure. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

Shirley Holms bridge, Lymington, photographed on 12th July 2008. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

Shirley Holms bridge, on the Lymington branch, only carries a single track, so just two main beams and a corrugated plate deck suffice.

Betchworth, photographed on 25th July 2009. photograph by Gregory Beecroft

This small underbridge near Betchworth also only requires two main beams and a plate deck. In this case there are two tracks, but a very short span.