Bridge Name: | Acton swing bridge |
Carries: | Road traffic |
Crosses: | River Weaver |
Locale: | Cheshire, England |
Design: | Swing truss bridge |
Material: | Steel |
Length: | 83.5m (274feet) |
Builder: | John Arthur Saner (design) |
Coordinates: | 53.2799°N -2.6007°W |
The Acton swing bridge is a swing bridge spanning the River Weaver in the village of Acton Bridge in north Cheshire, England. First operated in 1933, it carries the A49 trunk road.
The bridge is 83.5 m long and 8 m high bowstring truss balanced swing bridge, based on an 1893 design by John Arthur Saner.[1] [2] It has two slightly skew spans of 25 m each, with the twin riveted steel trusses supported on a mass concrete pontoon chamber.
Type: | Act |
Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
Citation: | 21 & 22 Geo. 5. c. xxiii |
Royal Assent: | 11 June 1931 |
Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo5/21-22/23/pdfs/ukla_19310023_en.pdf |
Collapsed: | yes |
It was built in an open position between 1931 and 1933 at a cost of £52,000, shutting for the first time on 10 August 1933.[3] The current bridge replaced an older stone bridge which had been able to carry only one line of traffic with an axle weight limit of 8 tons (the first bridge across the Weaver at this point was built in 1751). The current bridge is approximately 100 m north (downstream) of the old bridge's abutments, visible on the river banks from the Leigh Arms car park.[4]
It has been subject to periodic strengthening (e.g. in 1987) and repair (e.g. in 2015).[5] Today the structure of the bridge is maintained by the Canal & River Trust; Cheshire West and Chester Council is responsible for maintaining the A49 road which it carries.