Road Bridge Over The River Mersey, Northenden, UK - Arch Bridges on Waymarking.com

The River Mersey is 70.33 miles (113 km) long and flows from Stockport to Liverpool Bay. Historically it formed the boundary between the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.

"The A5103 is a major road in England. It runs from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre to junction 3 of the M56 motorway and is one of Manchester's principal radial routes.

This section is entirely dual carriageway trunk road, and is an important link between the M60 Manchester Outer Ring road and the M56 motorway. This section is called Princess Parkway and largely has a 50 mph (80 km/h) speed limit. Between the M56 and M60, the road has two intermediate junctions; with the B5166 towards Northenden and Sale Moor, and with the A560 leading to Gatley, Wythenshawe and Baguley. Between junctions, the A5103 here has four lanes in each direction with no hard shoulder. Between the on-and-off sliproads of the junctions, it has 3 lanes in each direction with hard shoulder. At the southern end, the A5103 seamlessly becomes the mainline of the M56 heading towards Manchester Airport, Chester and the M6 motorway. Northbound traffic on the M56 must leave the mainline of the motorway at a sliproad to remain on the M56. Remaining on the mainline leads directly to the A5103." link

The Road's early history
"Lady Sheena Simon (wife of Lord Simon), as Chair of the Wythenshawe Estates Special Committee, was very involved in the overall planning and conception of the landscaped Princess Parkway. The first work on the construction of Princess Parkway was the drilling of four bore-holes in January 1929 to start the work on the new Princess Parkway Bridge. Prior to that, Princess Road extended from the city centre to Barlow Moor Road, where it continued for a short distance as Christ Church Avenue. Because of the Great Depression of the time, grants were made toward Outdoor Relief Work for the unemployed (operated by the State, not by the Poor Law Unions, which had been superseded in 1929) and considerable use was made of this labour in the construction of the road. The new road, built from Barlow Moor Road to Altrincham/Stockport Road, was officially opened with the new bridge over the River Mersey on February 1st 1932 by the Minister of Transport and renamed Princess Road. The section from the Mersey to Altrincham Road was called Princess Parkway, after Sheena Simon's recommendation, in April." link

The River Mersey is subject to flooding at this point and the brick built bridge has three arches. The central arch is across the river itself, but there is also an arch over each bank of the river to allow any flood water through the arch.

Flanking the bridge on either side are nearby modern concrete bridges that were built to carry slip roads linking to the M60 motorway.

In the 1970s the banks of the river were raised to reduce the danger of flooding and there is now only limited head room through the arch over the river bank. Cyclists have to dismount and push their bike through.

What type of traffic does this bridge support?: Motor vehicles What kind of gap does this bridge cross?: The River Mersey Date constructed: 1932 Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: Yes Name of road or trail the bridge services: Princess Parkway (A5103) Location: Northenden, Greater Manchester Length of bridge: Not listed Height of bridge: Not listed

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