The reconstructed Town Bridge over the River Wey, Guildford

The bridge was originally constructed in 1908 to replace an earlier structure carrying the main Portsmouth Road into the Town Centre and served until 4 years ago when it was judged in need of complete re-building. The cast iron balustrading was carefully removed and stored and the stone piers were left in place while a new structure was prepared consisting of main deck beams in Weathering Steel to minimise future mainte­nance, and fascia girders accurately curved to match the profile of the cast iron balustrading and the existing abutments.

Steelwork fabrication and erection was undertaken by William Sharp (Structural). In a tight programme designed to minimise disruption and which included the dismantling of a “Bailey” temporary bridge over the river which had provided pedestrian access during reconstruction. Fabri­cation and trial assembly were all carried out in William Sharp’s works at Walsall.

Beam bending was earned out by the Angle Ring Company on their new heavy beam cambering and bending line at Tipton. At the heart of this development are the ARCH-LINE bending rolls which allow much heavier cambers than traditionally associated with large universal beams.

Originally published in
BCSA NEWS May 1986