3-021-252 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

New iron bridge over the Thames at Cookham, 1868. 'The new bridge was constructed by Messrs. Pease, Hutchinson, and Co., of the Skerne Ironworks...under the immediate superintendence of Mr. W. G. Fossick and under the inspection of Mr. W. Atkinson, C.E...of the Cookham Bridge Company. The contract price was £2520, which included the total cost of building the new and removing the old bridge, with all materials...The bridge has considerable elegance of design. Its length is 335 ft , its clear width of roadway is 20 ft., and its height at the centre from the bed of the river to the top of the handrail is 30 ft. The superstructure consists of a wrought-iron continuous girder, supported...upon piers of iron piles. The girders are firmly bolted to the three centre piers, but ride upon the other piers on expansion-rollers...The transverse girders, 6 ft. 8 in. apart, are of wrought iron, and the platform is of Memel planking, carried upon longitudinal beams, the ends of which are inserted between the flanges of the transverse girders. The platform was covered with a thick coating of asphalte before the metalling was put on. The piles are cross-braced, and are screwed down into the bed of the river to a depth of from 6 ft. to 10 ft.' From "Illustrated London News", 1868.