Listed Building record MDO19454 - Chewton Bridge, Lymington Road, Christchurch

Road bridge over Walkford Brook. Built in 1901. Red brick with stone coping and with concealed reinforced concrete beam. Segmental skew arch, and parapets terminating in scrolls at the ends of the long abutments; the parapets are cranked over the centre and some of the coping stones have been replaced with concrete. Originally the bridge was designed with an unusual skew arch with courses of brick at right-angles, rather than being diagonally coursed as is usual with skew arches. This did not satisfy the County Surveyor, who required the contractor's engineer to strengthen the bridge with a reinforced concrete beam over the brick arch. The beam spans almost 5 metres and is to Hennebique's patent specification and completely concealed within the brick structure. It was the first reinforced concrete bridge to be built in Britain.

Road bridge over Walkford Brook. Built in 1901. Red brick with stone coping and with concealed reinforced concrete beam. Segmental skew arch, and parapets terminating in scrolls at the ends of the long abutments; the parapets are cranked over the centre and some of the coping stones have been replaced with concrete. Originally the bridge was designed with an unusual skew arch with courses of brick at right-angles, rather than being diagonally coursed as is usual with skew arches. This did not satisfy the County Surveyor, who required the contractor's engineer to strengthen the bridge with a reinforced concrete beam over the brick arch. The beam spans almost 5 metres and is to Hennebique's patent specification and completely concealed within the brick structure. It was the first reinforced concrete bridge to be built in Britain. This description is derived from the associated designation record, the validity of which has not been checked.

Record last edited

Jun 22 2011 4:32AM