Battersea Railway Bridge

BRIDGE
Battersea Railway Bridge
Carries	West London Line
Maintained by
Design	Arch
Total Length
Clearance Below
Opening Date	March 1863

The Battersea Railway Bridge - properly called the Cremorne Bridge, after the pleasure grounds in Chelsea and originally commonly referred to as the Battersea New Bridge - is an east-west bridge across the River Thames in London, between Battersea and Chelsea and forming part of the West London Line of the London Overground from Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction.

History

The bridge was designed by William Baker, chief engineer of the London and North Western Railway, and was opened in March 1863 at a cost of £87,000. It carries two sets of railway lines and consists of five 120-foot (37 m) lattice girder arches set on stone piers. Within Network Rail, this bridge is also referred to as "Chelsea River Bridge" (Engineers Line Reference WLL, Bridge No. 9).

Strictly speaking, this structure may be considered a viaduct as it consists of 5 spans (Network Rail Bridge Book definition).

There is a three-arch brick viaduct on either side of the bridge. An arch on the north side has been opened to provide a pedestrian route under the railway, as part of the Thames Path.

The bridge was strengthened & refurbished in 1969, and again in 1992. During a high tide in late 2003, the structure was struck by a refuse-barge, and some of the lower structural elements damaged significantly. Until the repairs in early 2004, the up line (normal direction from West Brompton towards Clapham (Latchmere junction)) was blocked to locomotive hauled freight traffic, which in turn caused extensive delays to passenger services on the West London Line. Upon completion of the repairs by Edmund Nuttall Ltd, all restrictions were lifted.

Trains crossing the bridge are subject to a 20/30mph speed limit (locomotive-hauled traffic is restricted to 20mph, all other traffic is limited to 30mph). The lines are bi-directionally signalled in this area; thus each line can be travelled in each direction.

The bridge was declared a Grade II* listed structure in 2008, providing protection to preserve its special character from unsympathetic development.