Bourne End Railway Bridge

Bourne End Railway Bridge
Bourne End Railway Bridge showing cantilevered footbridge
Carries	Marlow Branch Line Thames Path
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	Bourne End, Buckinghamshire
Characteristics
Design	Box girder and cantilever
Material	Iron
Height	15 feet 6 inches (4.72 m)[1]
History
Opened	1895

Bourne End Railway Bridge is a railway bridge carrying the Marlow Branch Line, and a footpath over the River Thames in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England. It crosses the Thames on the reach between Cookham Lock and Marlow Lock.

The bridge was originally constructed in wood by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as part of the Wycombe Railway, opened in 1854 and operated in broad gauge until 1870.^[2] The narrow spans were unpopular with river traffic and it was reconstructed in steel in 1895. A footbridge, cantilevered out from the railway bridge was added in 1992, to take the Thames Path across the river.^[3]

In 2013, the bridge was restored and repainted in green, and a large number of rivets which had rusted away were replaced. The restoration took nearly a year to complete, being finished in December.^[4] The line is due to be electrified by 2019.^[5]

See also

• Crossings of the River Thames

References

1. River Thames Alliance. Bridge heights on the River Thames.
2. B.B. Wheals (1983). Theirs were but human hearts. H.S. Publishing, Bucks. p. 113.
3. Cove-Smith, Chris (2006). The River Thames Book. Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson. ISBN 0-85288-892-9.
4. "Bourne End railway bridge work 'finished by winter'". Maidenhead Advertiser. 13 Aug 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
5. "Electrification for Bourne End and Marlow rail". Bucks Free Press. 21 Jan 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-10.

Coordinates: 51°34′30″N 0°42′51″W / 51.57500°N 0.71417°W