Richmond Railway Bridge

Richmond Railway Bridge
Richmond Railway Bridge looking downstream
Coordinates	51°27′36″N 0°18′49″W / 51.46°N 0.3136°W / 51.46; -0.3136
Carries	National Rail services operated by South Western Railway
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	Richmond
Other name(s)	Richmond Windsor and Staines Railway Bridge[1]
Maintained by	Network Rail
Heritage status	Grade II listed structure[1]
Characteristics
Design	Truss arch bridge
Material	Steel
Total length	91.5 metres[1]
No. of spans	3
History
Designer	Joseph Locke (1848); J W Jacomb-Hood (1908)
Opened	1848; rebuilt 1908[1]
Statistics
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Richmond Railway Bridge and Approach Viaduct
Designated	26 November 2008
Reference no.	1393016
Location

Richmond Railway Bridge in Richmond, south-west London, crosses the River Thames immediately upstream of Twickenham Bridge. It carries National Rail services operated by South Western Railway (SWR) on the Waterloo to Reading Line, and lies between Richmond and St. Margarets stations. The bridge was amongst the first railway crossings of the Thames.^[1]

The first Richmond Railway Bridge was built by the contractor Thomas Brassey and designed by the civil engineers Joseph Locke and J. E. Errington on behalf of the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR). Opened during 1848, it was originally known as the Richmond Windsor and Staines Railway Bridge.^[1] Due to concerns over the bridge's use of cast iron in its construction, it was rebuilt during the 1900s, the principal change being the substitution of iron elements for steel counterparts. This second bridge, which heavily reused elements of the original, was designed by the L&SWR's then-chief engineer, J. W. Jacomb-Hood, and constructed by the Horseley Bridge Company between 1906 and 1908.

The second bridge is visually similar to the earlier structure, retaining much of its aesthetics and original features despite subsequent refurbishment and maintenance programmes, including the replacement of its decking and girders during the 1980s. Since 2008, both the bridge itself and its brick approach viaduct have been Grade II listed structures, protecting them from unsympathetic alterations.