Maidenhead Railway Bridge

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Maidenhead Railway Bridge today; Maidenhead Road Bridge behind

Maidenhead Railway Bridge as Turner saw it in 1844

Maidenhead Railway Bridge is a railway bridge carrying the main line of the Great Western Railway over the River Thames in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. The bridge was designed by the Great Western's famous engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The railway is carried across the river on two brick arches, which at the time of building were the widest and flattest in the world. Each span is 128 feet (39 m), with a rise of only 24 feet (7 m). The Thames towpath passes under the right-hand arch (facing upstream), which is also known as the Sounding Arch, because of its spectacular echo. It was completed in 1838.

It has been claimed that the board of GWR did not believe that the arches would stay up under the weight of the trains and ordered Brunel to leave the wooden formwork used to contruct the arches in place. However, Brunel simply lowered the formwork slightly so that it had no structural effect, but appeared to be in place. Later, when the formwork was washed away in floods, but the bridge remained, the strength of the arches was accepted.

As built, Maidenhead Railway Bridge carried two lines of Brunel's broad gauge track. Subsequently the bridge has been widened, and now carries the four lines of standard gauge track that make up the Great Western Main Line out of London Paddington Station.

Maidenhead Railway Bridge features in [Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway], painted by Turner in 1844 and now in the National Gallery, London

See also

• Crossings of the River Thames

|- style="background:#F0F0F0;text-align: center;" | Next crossing upstream | River Thames | Next crossing downstream |- style="text-align: center;" | Maidenhead Bridge | Maidenhead Railway Bridge
Grid reference: | M4 Thames Bridge

External links

• [Newcomen Society information]
• [Structurae information] (NB This site labels the rail bridge as "Maidenhead Bridge" and Maidenhead Bridge as "Maidenhead Road Bridge)

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