Chelmsford Road, Battlesbridge (EHER 31008)

Road bridge built 1872 and constructed of cast iron with three arches.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Road Bridge. Built 1872 but later widened. A three-arch county bridge with the centre and principal span (47ft; 14.3m) of cast iron, replacing an earlier cast-iron bridge destroyed by a traction engine in 1871. <1> Road bridge crossing the tidal River Crouch, about1872. Built by William Webster, St Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square, London, at a cost of £3,500. Cast iron centre arch, gault brick side arches with brick parapets and end pillars. The centre ribbed arch of 47 feet has a cast iron panelled face to east with 5 foliated tie bosses and trellised cast iron parapet with moulded rail. Side arches each of 20 feet with brick rusticated keystones and moulded bases. Moulded band over arch, chamfered coping. The central pillars with moulded heads, end pillars with chamfered heads. Rounded cut waters. Total length of bridge 117 feet. Records of bridges on this site date to 1372. The previous bridge built about 1845 by Thos. Hopper was demolished by a steam traction engine thus the specification for this bridge was stringent. "Composed of best soft grey metal. The whole of the girders to be put together in the yard and proved in the presence of the architect at the contractor's risk with a hydraulic ram, with the following weights in the centre .. each external girder proved with a weight of 16½ tons in the centre with a clear bearing of 47 feet. Each girder to return at once to its original form after proof and to remain without permanent set". The bridge had a clear width between parapets of 18 feet and for over 100 years carried all road traffic across the River Crouch. During the past few years, the bridge has been widened to the west face to accommodate 2 lane traffic. The original finials are now erected in front of Cromwell House, Rettendon, to the north west of the bridge. Local history studies. Leslie T. Newman. Batsford Guide to Industrial Archaeology in East Anglia. J. Booker. <2> <3> See also: <4> <5>