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Widnes Dock Junction and the flat crossing were causing problems of congestion and the LNWR dealt with this by building a deviation line of just under 1.5 miles (2 km) to the north of the original west–east line, crossing the line leading north to St Helens by a bridge.
The Mersey Gateway Bridge is a toll bridge between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire, England, which spans the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal.The crossing, which opened in October 2017, has three traffic lanes in each direction and is approximately 1.5 km (1 mile) east (upstream) of the older Silver Jubilee Bridge.
Widnes Dock with filled-in lock chamber (2007) Map of Spike Island (1875) showing the location of Widnes Dock. Widnes Dock was the first rail-to-ship facility in the world. [1] It was built in 1833 between the end of the Sankey Canal and the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway in Widnes. [2]
Until 1868, when Runcorn Railway Bridge was opened, [a] the only means of crossing the Mersey at or near Runcorn Gap were by fording or by ferry, [3] with the lowest crossing of the river being the road bridge at Warrington. [4] The first bridge to carry vehicular traffic across Runcorn Gap was the Widnes-Runcorn Transporter Bridge which opened ...
In 1899 the Widnes & Runcorn Bridge Company was established under the chairmanship of Sir John Brunner to investigate the options. Their decision was to build a transporter bridge. This would be cheaper than an orthodox type of bridge and the passage of the transporter car could be timed to allow the passage of the ships.
The dock could hold up to 40 vessels, and have a single Mersey flat loaded with 70 tons of coal from a railway wagon, and en route to Liverpool in 40 minutes. [3] The Mersey flats were small flat-bottomed sailing barges that originated on the Mersey but were later used on rivers elsewhere. They were a common sight in the 19th century.
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The bridge is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II* Listed building. [2] In 1861, Parliamentary approval for a railway crossing the Mersey was obtained by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). The design for a bridge and viaducts was produced by William Baker, the company's chief engineer. In 1863, preparatory ...