Lockhouse Railway Bridge On The River Don Navigation - Rotherham, UK - Railroad Bridges on Waymarking.com

The River Don Navigation
"The River Don Navigation was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire, England, navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield. The Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden had re-routed the mouth of the river in 1626, to improve drainage, and the new works included provision for navigation, but the scheme did not solve the problem of flooding, and the Dutch River was cut in 1635 to link the new channel to Goole. The first Act of Parliament to improve navigation on the river was obtained in 1726, by a group of Cutlers based in Sheffield; the Corporation of Doncaster obtained an Act in the following year for improvements to the lower river. Locks and lock cuts were built, and, by 1751, the river was navigable to Tinsley.

The network was expanded by the opening of the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1802." link

The Bridge
There are two bridges close together here called Lockhouse Bridge that cross the Stainforth and Keadby Canal part of the overall River Don Navigation at Ickles Lock.

"Just east of Ickles Lock, this is actually two bridges. The western bridge carries the continuation of Millmoor Lane and the eastern the ex-MS&L freight-only line between Tinsley and Rotherham Central" link

At the time this bridge was built there were already a number of railway lines in this area and a number of bridges across the River Don Navigation.

The Sheffield and Rotherham railway mainly ran along the northern bank of the navigation and the Rotheram Westgate station.

"The river was crossed by a 300-foot (91 m) wooden bridge with seven arches over which the station platform extended, and then the line passed over the River Don Navigation on a three-arched bridge, the centre arch of which was 36 feet (11 m) long and made of iron. This section of canal was owned by the South Yorkshire Railway Company, which became part of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1864, and in order for its line from Mexborough to Sheffield to pass under the Westgate line, the canal below Ickles lock was diverted to join the river, and part of the Eastwood Cut below Rotherham lock was diverted to the east in the same year. The original canal bed was then filled in, and the tracks were laid along its course. It was in this section that, in 1871, the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway built Rotherham Central." Details extracted from this link

The bridge crosses the diverted navigation section just below Ickles Lock. It crosses the tail of the lock at an oblique angle. The north eastern end of the bridge is where the railway joins the bed of the old route of the navigation.

These days it is a freight-only line between Tinsley and Rotherham Central.

Bridge Type: Girder Bridge Usage: Railroad Moving Bridge: This bridge is static (has no moving pieces)

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