Bridge Over Railway Line And Safety Ramp

The bridge over the railway line and the adjoining safety ramp, located on West Terrace in Hayle, was built around 1852 for the West Cornwall Railway. It is constructed from rock-faced granite with rock-faced granite dressings. The bridge features iron girders that support a wooden road with a gravel surface. It is a single-span bridge that passes through an embankment and has battered abutments. On one side, a ramp, which is presumably sand-filled and overgrown, branches from former safety points and slopes up to the embankment. This ramp was designed to slow down any train that might go out of control towards the swing bridge. The abutments of the bridge are topped with stone parapets and copings, while the bridge itself has a cross-braced wooden parapet. This safety ramp is recognized as the first of its kind in England.