King George V Bridge (Keadby)

King George V Bridge

Location Map ( geo)

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From:

Keadby

To:

Gunness

County

Lincolnshire

Highway Authority

North Lincolnshire

Opening Date

1916

Additional Information

List No:	1067725 (Grade II)
Bridge Type:	Bascule Bridge
Max Span:	45.7m (149 ft 11 in)

On road(s)

A18

This article is about the bridge in Keadby.
For other bridges with the same name, see King George V Bridge.

King George V Bridge is also known as (incorrectly) Keadby Bridge. It carries the A18 and the Doncaster-Scunthorpe railway over the River Trent and opened in 1916. It carries two lanes of traffic and two railway lines. It is the last river crossing of the Trent before it reaches the Humber. Prior to 1916 there was no road crossing at this point, just the old railway bridge built in 1853.

History

The scheme

The scheme put forward by the Great Central Railway Company in July 1911 was examined by Lindsey County Council. The new bridge was to be built 65 yards to the north of the old railway bridge. It would consist of 3 spans: the lifting span, which would be on the east side, would be 150 feet, and the 2 other spans 120 feet each. There would be 2 outer main girders and a centre main girder for each span. The clear width between girders would be 26 feet for the railway and 21.5 feet for the roadway. The underside of the cross girders were to be 16 feet above high water level.

The road approaches to the bridge were to be 180 yards long on the eastern side and 320 yards long on the western side. The approaches were to be 25 feet wide between the fences.

The approximate additional cost which would be incurred by the Great Central Railway Company by the addition of the road bridge and approaches was £52,224 to which the railway sought a contribution of £40,000 from the County Council and other Local Authorities involved. The Council's independent Engineer said that it would be much less than the cost of an independent bridge and also the Council would be relieved of a large annual cost of the maintenance and working of the opening bridge. Lindsey County Council's share of the cost was £20,000.

Opening

When the bridge was brought into use on 22 May 1916 it was the largest "Bascule" bridge in Europe. The first passenger train over the bridge left Althorpe Station at 10.35am and was driven by Herbert Duke of Mexborough. There were numerous officials from Great Central Railway, including J.B. Ball, Chief Engineer and D. Carson, the Resident Engineer who supervised the work. No mention was made about the road section.