246:, but had to be movable, to allow boats to proceed upriver to the Town Bridge. Part of the railway siding followed the route previously used by a horse-drawn tram which had later been converted to a mixed gauge rail system. An 80-foot (24 m) section of railway track to the east of the bridge could be moved sideways by a traverser, making space so that the main 127-foot (39 m) girders could be retracted, creating a navigable channel which was 78 feet (24 m) wide. It was manually operated for the first eight months, and then powered by a steam engine, reverting to manual operation in 1913, when the steam engine failed. The Bristol and Exeter Railway, including the branch line and bridge, was taken over by the
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and last opened in 1953, and the traverser section was demolished in 1974, but public outcry at the action resulted in the bridge being listed as a
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300:"Telescopic rail bridge over the River Parrett, 270m south east of Bridgwater Dock lock (1020624)"
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in 1977, and other parts of the bridge mechanism to
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215:, was built in 1871 to carry a railway over the
331:"Rail bridge over the River Parrett (1297139)"
253:The bridge was temporarily immobilised during
515:Grade II* listed railway bridges and viaducts
441:"Rail bridge over River Parrett, Bridgwater"
413:Civil Engineering Heritage: Southern England
358:"How many bridges are there in Bridgwater?"
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510:Grade II* listed buildings in Sedgemoor
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207:(locally known as the Black Bridge) in
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445:Somerset Historic Environment Record
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263:Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum
419:by Thomas Telford. pp. 96–97.
415:(Print). London: Published for the
234:was built in 1871 to the design of
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336:National Heritage List for England
305:National Heritage List for England
16:Bridge in Somerset, United Kingdom
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530:Scheduled monuments in Sedgemoor
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211:, within the English county of
495:1871 establishments in England
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417:Institution of Civil Engineers
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219:. It has been scheduled as an
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41:The telescopic bridge in 2007
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520:Railway bridges in Somerset
447:. South West Heritage Trust
382:GWR Bristol to Taunton Line
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259:Scheduled Ancient Monument
240:Bristol and Exeter Railway
500:Bridges completed in 1871
469:. Bridgwater Town Council
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379:Maggs, Colin G. (2013).
385:. Amberley Publishing.
238:, the engineer for the
25:Telescopic rail bridge
411:Otter, R. A. (1994).
360:. Experience Somerset
267:Didcot Railway Centre
248:Great Western Railway
525:Retractable bridges
223:and is a Grade II*
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244:Port of Bridgwater
232:retractable bridge
143:Retractable bridge
70:51.1318°N 3.0015°W
205:Telescopic Bridge
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255:World War II
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29:Black Bridge
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467:"The Docks"
451:21 December
89:Pedestrians
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48:Coordinates
505:Bridgwater
489:Categories
273:References
209:Bridgwater
122:Grade II*
108:Bridgwater
58:51°07′54″N
473:5 January
364:5 January
250:in 1876.
153:Cast iron
114:, England
61:3°00′05″W
213:Somerset
193:Location
168:Designer
149:Material
112:Somerset
342:6 April
311:6 April
183: (
163:History
94:Crosses
86:Carries
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178:Opened
139:Design
104:Locale
157:steel
475:2015
453:2009
421:ISBN
387:ISBN
366:2015
344:2015
313:2015
230:The
203:The
185:1871
181:1871
155:and
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
