https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Moulsford_Railway_Bridge&feed=atom&action=historyMoulsford Railway Bridge - Revision history2024-03-28T22:56:27ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.25.5https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Moulsford_Railway_Bridge&diff=48811&oldid=prevOwain: Created page with "{{Infobox bridge |county 1=Berks |county 2=Oxford |latitude=51.558056 |longitude= -1.1425 |picture=MoulsfordRlyBr01.JPG |caption= Moulsford Railway Bridge (original) from down..."2017-05-21T19:23:10Z<p>Created page with "{{Infobox bridge |county 1=Berks |county 2=Oxford |latitude=51.558056 |longitude= -1.1425 |picture=MoulsfordRlyBr01.JPG |caption= Moulsford Railway Bridge (original) from down..."</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Infobox bridge<br />
|county 1=Berks<br />
|county 2=Oxford<br />
|latitude=51.558056<br />
|longitude= -1.1425<br />
|picture=MoulsfordRlyBr01.JPG<br />
|caption= Moulsford Railway Bridge (original) from downstream<br />
|official_name= <br />
|carries= [[Great Western Main Line]]<br />
|crosses=[[River Thames]]<br />
|design=Skew arch<br />
|material= Brick<br />
|spans= 4<br />
|piers in water= 3<br />
|built= 1839 and 1892<br />
}}<br />
[[Image:MoulsfordRlyBr02.JPG|thumb|250px|The bridges from underneath with the original closest]]<br />
'''Moulsford Railway Bridge''', known locally as "Four Arches" bridge<ref name="fourarches"><br />
{{cite web |url= http://www.cholsey.org/parishplan/SGEnviron8b.pdf |title= The Cholsey Parish Plan |publisher= Cholsey Parish Council |year= 2006 |accessdate= 28 December 2009<br />
}}</ref> is a pair of parallel bridges located a little to the north of [[Moulsford]], [[Berkshire]]. It carries the [[Great Western Main Line]] from Paddington, [[London]] to the West across the [[River Thames]]. It lies between the stations at [[Goring-on-Thames|Goring]] & [[Streatley]] and [[Cholsey]], and crosses the Thames at an oblique angle on the reach between [[Cleeve Lock]] and [[Benson Lock]]. It is a Grade II* listed structure.<ref name=historicengland>{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1285970|title=Name: Moulsford Viaduct (MLN14730) List entry Number: 1285970|publisher= Historic England|accessdate=9 April 2016}}</ref><br />
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==Construction==<br />
===First bridge===<br />
The original bridge was designed to carry two broad-gauge tracks by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway and was built between 1838 and 1839, at the same time as [[Maidenhead Railway Bridge|Maidenhead]] and [[Gatehampton Railway Bridge|Gatehampton]] railway bridges. It is constructed from red brick with Bath stone quoins as four elliptical skew arches of 62 ft span and a headway height of 21 ft 8 in. <br />
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===Second bridge===<br />
In 1892 the line was converted to quadruple track and a second bridge was built alongside the upstream side of the original and connected to it by girders and brick bridgelets. The second bridge was built to the same profile and dimensions as the original but it lacks the stone quoins of the original and the plain uncut bricks make a jagged pattern where they meet the faces of the bridge. The second bridge is also narrower, having been built to carry a pair of standard-gauge tracks.<br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Crossings of the River Thames]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==Outside links==<br />
* {{Structurae|id=s0011341|title=Moulsford Railway Bridge}}<br />
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[[Category:Bridges across the River Thames]]</div>Owain