2-913-592 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Iron Railway Bridge, over the River Taw, near Barnstaple, 1854. North Devon Railway. 'The length of line at present completed is about thirty-five miles. It is single, on the broad gauge, with the electric telegraph throughout, and has been substantially executed by the eminent contractors, Messrs. Brassey and Ogilvie, under the superintendence of Mr. W. R. Neale, the Company's Engineer...The principal work...is a cast-iron bridge over the Taw, near Barnstaple...It consists of three cast-iron arches, 83 feet 6 inches span each, with a 10 feet rise. These arches rest on iron circulars, sunk into the bed of the river, and filled with solid masonry'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.