Windsor Bridge (Bath)

Windsor Bridge from the river

Windsor Bridge carries the A3604 across the River Avon in Bath. The current Bridge was built in the 1980's to replace an older structure, which primarily served the gasworks. Indeed a service span carrying pipework survives immediately downstream, and this may be the bridge shown on older maps. The new bridge was built to take proper traffic, providing a full connection between the A36 and the A4 so as to ease traffic levels on other bridges in the city. It is three lanes wide (allowing for the turning lanes at either end), and normally full of stationary traffic on the northbound side waiting at the lights for the A4!

The bridge itself is a steel girder bridge carrying a concrete deck, a design that has been used frequently since the 1970s. It crosses the river in a single span, providing sufficient clearance below for the barges and pleasure cruisers that frequent the river.

Junction

Rather confusingly, the junction on the A36 at the southern end of the bridge is also apparently called 'Windsor Bridge'. This junction, like that on the A4 to the north, is controlled by traffic signals as it is a full crossroads, with Brook Road providing access into the popular student areas of Twerton and Oldfield Park to the south. Indeed, traffic from the Westbound A36 has a simple give-way line into Brook Road, while all other movements are controlled by the lights.

In the past, this junction was crossed diagonally from NE to SW by a curving viaduct carrying the Somerset and Dorset Railways Bath Line. The railway closed in the mid 1960s, with the viaduct subsequently being removed long before the A3604 route across the bridge was constructed.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A36	Bristol (A4), Wells (A39), Twerton
A36	Through Routes, Motorway M4, Oldfield Park	Also signed for Warminster A36, Chippenham (A4), Stroud (A46)
A3604	Royal United Hospital, Bitton (A431), All attractions & Museums	Route No. not shown
		7.5 Tonne Weight Limit