NO LONGER EXTANT. Demolished in the late 1970s. The pier for the swing bridge pivot survives [1]
This swing bridge crossed the River Aire and Aire and Calder Navigation at Knowsthorpe (Knostrop), near Thwaite Waternill, south east of Leeds, Yorkshire.
1899 'GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY EXTENSION IN LEEDS. The Beeston and Hunslet Line. .... There are numerous bridges and viaducts, the largest being that which crosses the Aire and Calder Navigation near Knostrop. Amongst a number of other concessions obtained from the prmoters by Ue authorities of the Aire and Calder Navigation was a clause in the Act which had in view the formation of a ship canal to Leeds. It is to the affect that this bridge should so to convertible into a swing bridge when the contemplated conversion of other bridges across the Navigation was carried out by the Aire and Calder Company. The result was that the Great Northern Company have had to erect a structure which will rank as one of the finest swing-bndges to be found in the country. Its total length between the abutments is 275 feet, with a clear span of 170 feet over the waterway. The two main girders are 295 feet in length, and about 30 feet in depth, the weight of the steelwork being about 1,250 tons. To get solid foundations for the piers, excavations had to made to depth of 35 feet. The ashlar pier upon which the bridge is pivoted for swinging is 45 feet in diameter The sub-contractors for this bridge, and for the steelwork generally, are the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company, Darlington. ....'
1900 Described and illustrated in The Engineer [2]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ [1] Geograph entry
- ↑ The Engineer 1900/04/20, p.402ff.