Warrington Transporter Bridge

Warrington Transporter Bridge
File:Wartranny.jpg
Coordinates
Carries	Vehicles Pedestrians
Crosses	River Mersey
Locale	Warrington
Other name(s)	Bank Quay Transporter Bridge
Owner	Warrington Borough Council
Heritage status	Grade II*
Characteristics
Design	Transporter Bridge
Material	Steel
Total length	103 m (339 ft)
Width	9 m (30 ft)
Longest span	61 m (200 ft)
Clearance below	23 m (76 ft)
History
Designer	William Henry Hunter
Constructed by	Sir William Arrol & Co.
Construction begin	1913
Opened	1916
Closed	1964

The Warrington Transporter Bridge (or Bank Quay Transporter Bridge) across the River Mersey is a structural steel transporter bridge. The bridge has a span of 200 ft (61 m), is 30 ft (9.1 m) wide, 76 ft (23 m) feet above high water level, with an overall length of 339 ft (103 m) feet. It was constructed in 1915 and fell into disuse in approximately 1964. It was designed by William Henry Hunter and built by William Arrol.

It was the second of two transporter bridges across the Mersey at Warrington. The first was erected in 1905 slightly to the north of the existing bridge, and was described in The Engineer in 1908. A third transporter bridge over the Mersey was the Widnes-Runcorn Transporter Bridge, built in 1905 and dismantled in 1961.

The Warrington Transporter Bridge was constructed to connect the two parts of the large chemical and soap works of Joseph Crosfield and Sons. It was originally designed to carry rail vehicles up to 18 long tons (18 tonnes) in weight, and was converted for road vehicles in 1940. In 1953 it was further modified to carry loads of up to 30 long tons (30 tonnes).

The bridge is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and because of its poor condition it is on the Heritage at Risk Register. The bridge is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

A local group called 'Friends of Warrington Transporter Bridge' was formed in April 2015 to act as the independent voice of the bridge. The group is liaising with other interest groups to safeguard the future of the bridge and its industrial heritage status.

FoWTB have been featured on the local BBC News program NorthWest Tonight, have set up a website for the bridge (www.WarringtonTransporterBridge.co.uk) along with Facebook and Twitter pages. In 2016, the bridge was nominated for the Institution of Civil Engineers North West Heritage Award

See also

• Grade I and II* listed buildings in Warrington
• List of Scheduled Monuments in Cheshire (post-1539)

References

Bibliography

• Rennison, R.W., "Civil Engineering Heritage : Northern England", Thomas Telford Publishing, 2nd edn., 1996, ISBN 0-7277-2518-1
• Thompson, Dave, "Bridging the Years", MailBook Publishing, 2000

External links

• Official Website
• Facebook Page
• Twitter Page
• Map sources for Warrington Transporter Bridge
• Picture on geograph
• another site