The Sheffield Bailey Bridge - Sheffield, UK - Bailey Bridges on Waymarking.com

The 8 km long Five Weirs Walk runs alongside the River Don in Sheffield, England. From Lady's Bridge in Sheffield City Centre, it heads downstream, northeast, over the Cobweb Bridge, through Attercliffe to Meadowhall.

As the name of the walk suggests, it passes five weirs. It is now possible to continue the walk along the Don, under the Tinsley Viaduct, to Rotherham. As of 2010, the section of the walk between Sheffield and Meadowhall has been linked with the parallel Sheffield and Tinsley Canal towpath as an 8-mile circular walk known as The Blue Loop. link

A number of bridges were erected along the route whilst developing the walk, this bridge was the last one to be installed and provided a link from Furnival Road on the south of the river to a footpath on the north side of the river. link

There is a noticeboard next to the bridge on the northern end of the bridge with the following information.

THE SHEFFIELD BAILEY BRIDGE

IN WAR AND PEACE

General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of the 1945 D Day Landings, believed the Bailey Bridge to have been one of the three most important inventions of the war, alongside Radar and the Heavy Bomber.

490,000 Tonnes and 240 miles of Bailey Bridge sections were produced in WW2, and after the the bridge was used extensively throughout Europe to rebuild its shattered infrastructure.

However Bailey Bridges were far more than an instrument of war. In updated form such as the Mabey Universal, the Bailey Bridge continues to be used frequently in peacetime natural disaters such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, anywhere bridge crossings have to be quickly restored.

THE ORIGIN OF THE BAILEY BRIDGE

Bailey Bridges were developed during the Second World War to enable 'instant' bridges of varying spans and carrying capacities to be speedily erected, manually, by unskilled labour and without heavy machinery or cranes. Donald Bailey was born in Rotherham and trained as a civil engineer at the University of Sheffield, before joining the Ministry of Supply just before the start of WW2.

Bailey designed the bridge in 1939. It became a major asset to the Allied armies as the began the reconquest of Nazi occupied territory in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany.

THE SHEFFIELD BAILEY BRIDGE

The Sheffield Bailey Bridge, which dates from 1945 is believed to have been used in or after the D-Day landings in Normandy and subsequently has travelled the world with the British Army.

It has now found a new peaceful use in the city where its inventor first learnt the profession of a civil engineer, and where the first prototype bridge was erected by the West Riding Squadron of the Royal Engineers, based then at the Somme Barracks, Glossop Road.

The bridge has been adapted to current safety requirements with the addition of a stainless Steel handrail, lighting and parapets designed by Sheffield City Council Design and Site Services.
It was erected by Mandell Engineering and Land & Water PLC in 2005-6.

THANK YOU

The main walk and nearby Walk Mill Weir fish pass and canoe portage were funded by the Millennium Commission, Yorkshire Forward, Living Spaces, Viridor and the Environment agency. The purchase of the bridge and the design of the adaptation were funded by a grant from the River Don Millowners.

A REVOLUTIONARY DESIGN

The Bailey Bridge was a revolutionary invention in many ways:

   All the parts were standardised and fully interchangeable
   All the components were capable of being carried by a six man team.
   All component parts were transportable in a 3 tonne truck.
   A bridge could be rapidly launched from one bank only for assault purposes.
   The units could be assembled in multiple forms to suit different loading conditions and spans.

WILDLIFE ON THE RIVER

Looking upstream from the bridge can be seen an elongated island in the middle of the river. This is the man-made result of the building of the Walk Mill Weir. Over the centuries the force of the water pouring over the weir has churned up silt from the river bed and deposited it downstream, gradually forming the island.

Since the water in the Don began to improve in the early 1980s these islands have become rich communities of plant, bird and animal life, constantly being enriched by regular flooding and relatively undisturbed by humans.

The Walk Mill Island is home to a growing colony of geese and other water fowl and is visited daily by heron and kingfisher.

The commonest tree on the island is the Crack Willow which grows rapidly with shallow roots and then spectacularly falls over only to start again. Its distinctive leaves are celebrated in the logo of the Five Weirs Walk and the mrtal 'Snow Gates' on Effingham Road by artist David Mayne. These openings were originally used by the council to dispose of snow from the roads.

Intended use: Pedestrians or Bicycles Date Built/Opened: 10/15/2005 Replacement?: no Bridge Length (Optional): Not listed Suggested Parking: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
Post an original photo (no GPS please) showing the bridge.

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