Hawarden Bridge

Hawarden Bridge
File:Hawarden Bridge over the River Dee - geograph.org.uk - 405378.jpg
Coordinates
Carries	Borderlands Line
Crosses	River Dee
Locale	Deeside
Official name	Hawarden Bridge
Maintained by	Network Rail
Characteristics
Design	Swing bridge
Longest span	85 m (278 ft)
Number of spans	3
History
Designer	Mr C A Hobson
Construction begin	16 August 1887
Opened	3 August 1889

File:Hope & Connah's Quay RJD 139.jpg

A 1906 Railway Clearing House map showing the bridge's location

Hawarden Bridge (/ˈhɑːrdən/; Welsh: Pont Penarlâg) is a railway bridge over the River Dee, near Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (which later became the Great Central Railway), as part of the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway. It opened in 3 August 1889.

The central section, which was designed as a swing bridge to allow shipping to pass, no longer opens and is welded shut, although the rotating mechanism - hydraulic cylinders attached to a drive chain and sprocket - is still visible beneath the bridge.

The bridge is part of the Borderlands Line from Wrexham to Bidston.

Hawarden Bridge railway station is on the north side of the bridge, while Shotton station is on the south side.

National Cycle Route 5 crosses the River Dee on the path, adjacent to the railway line, which is on the bridge.

See also

• List of bridges in Wales

External links

• Hawarden Bridge and Dee Marsh (photographs by David Sallery)
• Photographs from BBC
• Central section photo