Selby Railway Swing Bridge HUL 2/25

Selby Railway Swing Bridge

A wrought-iron swing bridge with hydraulic accumulator tower and engine house, built in 1891 and designed by T.E. Harrison.

The bridge comprises two river spans constructed from wrought iron with timber and steel sheeting clad decking. The fixed southern river span (span 3) measures 33.52 metres in length. Both river spans feature hog-backed plate girders with riveted cross girders supporting a secondary deck. The spans meet centrally over a pair of tubular wrought-iron piers protected by piled timber cutwaters clad with steel rail rubbing strakes. These two piers are linked together by braced round-arched girders with pierced spandrels.

The northern swing span (span 4) is 39.62 metres long and designed to swing to allow the passage of shipping. It sits on a rotating roller bed mounted on top of a 9.44 metre diameter tubular wrought-iron pier set into the riverbank. The span is cantilevered, and the rotating roller bed permits the bridge to swing through a 90 degree arc. A 92-ton counterbalance box is slung under the northern end of the span to balance the weight of the cantilevered section. Lever locking mechanisms run from the control cabin along the deck to prevent misalignment, engaging with the ends of the fixed spans.

The control cabin sits above the pivoting point on a pair of riveted girder arches. It has a rectangular plan of 8 by 6 bays with a felt-covered pyramidal roof. All walls feature centrally pivoting nine-light and single-light timber casement windows with weather-boarded panels below. Entry is via a doorway in the south-eastern elevation from a catwalk surrounding three sides of the cabin. A secondary steel catwalk on the eastern side runs the length of the bridge, with galvanized steel stairs rising to the control cabin catwalk. A steel ladder within a protective cage on the western side of the northern river span also provides access. Power cables enter through a slip-ring mounting in the roof apex to allow for structural rotation.

The northern abutment features an ashlar string course supporting a brick parapet wall with ashlar copings on its eastern side. The western side has no parapet, as a retaining wall extends from the abutment to form the south-west wall of the hydraulic accumulator tower and engine house.

The hydraulic accumulator tower is a brick-built structure approximately 7.6 metres tall over two storeys with an open roof hidden by a parapet wall. The parapet has plain ashlar copings raised on a projecting ashlar string course. The tower employs pier and panel construction with a rectangular plan. The two-bay south-east elevation is pierced by a pair of round-headed twenty-two light metal windows in brick surrounds with plain ashlar cills. The north-west and south-east elevations each have a blind round-headed window opening.

The attached engine house stands on the north-eastern side of the accumulator tower. It is brick-built, five bays in plan, single-storey with a basement extending beneath the adjoining accumulator tower. The gabled roof is slate-clad with a galvanized steel ventilator cowl base set into the ridge. The north-west and south-east elevations each have three basket arched windows in brick surrounds with plain ashlar cills; those in the north-east elevation have been bricked-up. A pedestrian doorway beneath a basket arch occupies the south-east elevation. The gabled north-east elevation has a vent in the gable apex and a pair of four-centred brick arches at basement level; the westernmost housing a sliding timber door. The interior of the accumulator tower has not been accessed.

Spans 1, 2, and 5 (built 2014), associated brick abutments, timber cut waters, timber servicing quay and jetties, and road retaining walls of Ousegate are excluded from listing.