Railway Bridge

The former railway bridge on Commercial Road, built in the 1870s for the London and Blackwall Railway Company and its lessee, the Great Eastern Railway, is now disused. It features a wrought-iron superstructure supported by brick abutments and three cast iron columns. The superstructure consists of a latticed box girder with a flat bolted underside and diagonal tensile members made of wrought-iron flat plates. The yellow brick abutments, constructed in English bond, are located at each end and support the superstructure, along with a pair of additional cast iron column supports on the east side. A drinking fountain is attached to the northern abutment. The superstructure, abutments, and columns are all integral structural components of the bridge. A viaduct built around 1880 extends to the north and south.

Historically, the London and Blackwall Railway Company and the Great Eastern Railway Company completed the viaduct that carries the Limehouse Curve in 1880. This connection allowed goods trains from Millwall and other London Docks to access the main-line system of the Great Eastern Railway directly. The listed bridge is notably wider than the current roadway, reflecting the greater width of Commercial Road, which was constructed around 1802-04 as a toll road linking the East and West India Docks with the City.

The bridge is recognized as a distinctive late-1870s railway structure for the Great Eastern Railway, showcasing a wrought iron latticed superstructure and additional cast iron column supports. It holds historical significance and strong group value with the Grade II listed London and Blackwall Railway viaduct of 1839-40, the adjacent houses along Commercial Road, the Accumulative Tower, and the dated 1886 drinking fountain attached to the northern abutment.