Railway Bridge And Attached Accommodation Bridge Over River Kennet At Su 7306 7381

The railway bridge and attached accommodation bridge over the River Kennet were built between 1839 and 1840 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for The Great Western Railway. The railway bridge, constructed of red brick, was widened in 1892 using engineering brick and features ashlar dressings. It has a central elliptical arch flanked by pilasters, with the western one on a cutwater. There are two round flood arches on either side and broad battered buttresses beyond. A band runs below the flat-coped parapet.

The accommodation bridge, likely added in 1892, is made of steel and timber. Its substructure is steel-framed, with girders cantilevered from the face of the railway bridge. The wooden deck has a parapet made of vertical boards supported by a panelled frame with diagonally-crossed braces. The long, sloping ramps are panelled towards the river, while the peaked archway is constructed of steel. The Twyford to Reading section of the Great Western Railway was opened on March 30, 1840.