Barnes Railway Bridge

About

Barnes Railway Bridge is a Grade II listed in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the London Borough of Hounslow. It crosses the River Thames in London in a northwest to southeast direction at Barnes. It carries the South Western Railway's Hounslow Loop Line, and lies between Barnes Bridge and Chiswick stations.

It can also be crossed on foot, and is one of only three bridges in London to combine pedestrian and rail use; the others being Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges and Fulham Railway Bridge. The original bridge at this location was constructed during the late 1849 in accordance with a design produced by the civil engineer Joseph Locke; this structure, which consisted of two pairs of cast iron arch spans, bore a considerable resemblance to the original Richmond Railway Bridge, which was also designed by Locke. On 22 August 1849, the Barnes Bridge was opened to rail traffic.

While Locke's incarnation of Barnes Bridge provided relatively trouble-free service, it has not seen use since the 1890s. During the latter decade of the nineteenth century, there was a scare regarding the suitability of cast iron bridges following the collapse of one such structure. As...