Railway Bridge Over The River Calder - Dewsbury, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 40.859 W 001° 38.850
30U E 589329 N 5948878
This cast iron twin arch bridge was built in 1847 for the London And Northwestern Railway.
Waymark Code: WMQDV0
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/12/2016
Views: 1
The River Calder is a 45 mile long river between Heald Moor and Wakefield. The river itself is only navigable in short sections, but these sections are connected by artificial "cuts" (e.g. Horbury Cut) to form the Calder and Hebble Navigation, a popular leisure waterway which is part of the connected inland waterway network of England and Wales.
This is one of the places where the river is not navigable and there is a "cut" of the Calder and Hebble Navigation running nearby. The railway crosses both this river and the navigation and this bridge carries it over the river itself.
The Railway Bridge
These days the line is called the Huddersfield Line and is one of the busiest rail services on the West Yorkshire MetroTrain network in northern England. Local services are operated by Northern Rail with longer distance services operated by TransPennine Express. The line connects Leeds and Huddersfield with Manchester (Victoria & Piccadilly), Manchester Airport and Liverpool.
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The bridge carries the line between Dewsbury and Ravensthorpe stations.
It is a Historic England Grade II listed building with the following text. "Railway bridge over River Calder. Dated 1847 for L & NWR Co. (line opened 1848). Two identical spans on large rusticated ashlar abutments and centre pier. The span is in cast iron. 6 arched girders the spandrels of which are in the form of a gothic arcade, reducing towards the centre. The outer arches read: "JOSEPH BUTLER & CO. STANNINGLEY IRON WORKS. NR. LEEDS. 1847" and are slightly more decoratively treated. The trusses are held by cast-iron X-section cross-shaped ties and by diagonal tie-bars. The main arches are bolted together in 5 sections. Gothic arcaded parapets in cast iron."
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