Great Howard Street Bridge (Liverpool)
Note: The impressive original iron bridge no longer exists.
In 1845 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway obtained an Act of Parliament to build the Waterloo branch to Waterloo Goods Station, Liverpool, running north west from Edge Hill. The line opened in 1849, by which time the L&M Railway had been absorbed by the London and North Western Railway. The route was mostly underground, through the Victoria Tunnel and Waterloo Tunnel, but opened up at the entrance to the goods station, where the lines were crossed by an impressive brick arch bridge carrying the L&YR line from Great Howard Street Goods Station. The 'Grand Arch' was designed by John Hawkshaw and constructed by McCormick and Holmes in 1849 [1]. Immediately alongside this, the Waterloo branch was crossed be a large cast iron arch bridge, carrying Great Howard Street Bridge. This was later joined by a steel(?) girder bridge when the road was widened.
The station was demolished in the early 1970s and the lines were lifted, although the tunnels remain. In 2016 the Great Howard Street Bridges were demolished, to be replaced with a new one for the upgraded road. This would allow the line to be brought back into use in the future to serve Liverpool Docks.
The cast iron bridge, of 116 feet span, was constructed by Robert Daglish and Co of St. Helens [2]. The bridge had two spans each with four arch ribs, supported at the mid point by cast iron columns.
In recent times the impressive bridges were lost to view when the railway cutting was filled in, although the cast iron parapets remained above ground.
In 2013 an urban explorer found a way into the brick arch former railway bridge, revealing its chambered construction, and then entered a large void underneath the road bridge. See his report here.
The Great Howard Street iron and steel spans were fully exposed to view in 2016. Unfortunately they were then scrapped.
See here for more information and photographs.[3]. Note: One of photos on the first webpage, taken in 1971, shows another cast iron arch bridge in the distance.