Over Bridge

About

Over Bridge, also known as Telford's Bridge, is a single-span stone arch bridge spanning the canalised West Channel of the River Severn near Gloucester, England. It links Over to Alney Island. Although there was a crossing at Over recorded in the Domesday Book, this bridge was built by Thomas Telford between 1825 and 1828, to carry traffic east–west. It was opened in 1830 and remained in use for traffic until 1974. Until the Severn Bridge was built in the 1960s, this was the lowest point downstream that the Severn could be crossed by road bridge.

The arch spans 150 ft (46 m), and was based on Jean-Rodolphe Perronet's 1774 design for a bridge over the River Seine at Neuilly. It combines both an elliptical profile over most of the soffit with a segmental profile at its faces. This feature is known as a corne de vache (French for cow's horn). When built, the arch sank by 2 in (5.1 cm) when its timber centring was removed, and another 8 in (20 cm) due to settlement of the arch foundations.

Today it is a pedestrian-only bridge, and is in the guardianship of Historic England as a scheduled monument. Road traffic on the A40 crosses the Severn on a new bridge alongside and upstream of it...