Jackson's Bridge

MATERIALS: riveted wrought-iron girders, steel arch struts, cast-iron piers, timber decking, and a stone sett approach ramp.

PLAN: a single-span footbridge raised on piers, with arched wrought-iron ramps to each end, and approached by a stone sett ramp from the south-west.

DESCRIPTION: a single-span footbridge, built using a pair of riveted wrought-iron through trusses, formed of a series of composite stringers (bottom chords) and upper girder beams (top chords), riveted together by flange and soffit plates, to provide the necessary 30.48m (100ft) length of span. The stringers and upper girder beams are connected by pairs of struts riveted to gusset plates, forming triangular panels, with flat riveted wrought-iron bars producing the lattice parapets and handrails. The ends of the upper beams of the trusses are bent over, to form the braced ends of the bridge, which rest on round section cast-iron piers that are set into the river banks. The two trusses are connected by floor beams and five round arch steel struts. The web of the south-western arch strut has an inscription in relief that reads E.T. BELLHOUSE AND CO MANCHESTER 1881. The floor beams are connected by screw tensioned, lateral wind bracing bars, forming a criss-cross arrangement beneath the decking. The ends of the decking planks rest on the inner flanges of the stringers and are held in place by transverse wrought-iron creep plates, with timber kerbs screwed into the decking. Each end of the bridge is approached by a short wrought-iron arched ramp, constructed in a similar manner to the bridge, but at half the height of the trusses, with the upper girder beams forming the hand rail. The south-western ramp rests directly onto the western river bank and is approached by a stone sett ramp that rises from Rifle Road. The north-eastern ramp terminates against a modern concrete cycle and disabled access ramp, set at a right-angle to the bridge (this modern ramp is not included in the listing).