Moulsford Railway Bridge

Moulsford Railway Bridge
File:MoulsfordRlyBr01.JPG Moulsford Railway Bridge (original) from downstream
Coordinates
Carries	Great Western Main Line
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	Moulsford
Maintained by	Network Rail
Characteristics
Design	Skew arch
Material	Brick
Height	21 feet 8 inches (6.60 m)
Number of spans	4
Piers in water	3
History
Designer	Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Opened	1839 and 1892

Moulsford Railway Bridge, known locally as "Four Arches" bridge is a pair of parallel bridges located a little to the north of Moulsford and South Stoke in Oxfordshire, UK. It carries the Great Western Main Line from Paddington, London to Wales and the West across the River Thames. It lies between the stations at Goring & Streatley and Cholsey, and crosses the Thames at an oblique angle on the reach between Cleeve Lock and Benson Lock.

Construction

First bridge

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 and Gatehampton railway bridges. It is constructed from red brick with Bath stone quoins as four elliptical skew arches of 62 feet (19 m) span and a headway height of 21 feet 8 inches (6.60 m).

Second bridge

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.

Picture gallery

File:Moulsford Railway Bridge.JPG

Moulsford Railway Bridge (the later build) from the Moulsford side upstream

File:MoulsfordRlyBr02.JPG

The bridges from underneath with the original closest

See also

• Crossings of the River Thames

External links

• Moulsford Railway Bridge at Structurae

Next crossing upstream	River Thames	Next crossing downstream
Winterbrook Bridge (road)	Moulsford Railway Bridge Grid reference: SU595846	Goring and Streatley Bridge (road)