Llanthony Swing Bridge

Llanthony Swing Bridge is a railway swing bridge built in 1910, based on designs from the Great Western Railway dating back to 1890. It features a plate-girder steel structure that pivots on a drum located on the southeastern bank and rests on two cylindrical iron-clad piers on the northwestern side of the river. These iron-clad piers may be remnants of the earlier swing bridge designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel between 1852 and 1854 for the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway, which later became part of the South Wales Railway. The abutments of the bridge are made of stone and brick, and it extends onto the northwestern bank as a causeway supported by stone and brick piers. A later footbridge is attached to the northeastern side. The swing bridge was originally powered hydraulically from Gloucester Docks and was essential for allowing ships to pass through the East Channel of the River Severn. Currently, the bridge is fixed and no longer functions as a swing bridge.