Lewisham military trestle bridge

[Geogregor]

Only today I have learned why one of the rail bridges in Lewisham area looks so weird. This one:

It was built by military as a quick replacement of previous bridge destroyed during the rail crash in 1957:

Lewisham rail crash - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The 1957 Lewisham Rail Crash

The evening rush hour of Wednesday 4 December 1957 was a very foggy one, while the Clean Air Act had been passed the year before it had yet to have a dramatic impact and fogs made worse by the poll…

runner500.wordpress.com

So, it looks like a bit of a temporary solution, but it is stills standing, over 60 years later.

Here I have a question, what is its lifespan? Will it have to be replaced soon? It looks like tricky location logistically...

 

[John Webb]

The 'temporary' bridge uses military bridge components, but was designed and erected by the Southern Region of British Railways. The military helped by loading the required items into wagons from their store on the Longmoor military railway. A very detailed description of both the clear-up of the old bridge remains and the erection of the new is given in "St John's Lewisham 50 years on" by Peter Tatlow, published by The Oakwood Press in 2007, ISBN 0 85361 669 6. The accident happened on the 4th of December, 1957 and the temporary bridge was first tested on January 12th, 1958, a remarkable achievement!
At various times in the ensuing years there were plans to design and build a new bridge, but in the end the disruption to trains this would cause was decided to outweigh the costs of maintaining the temporary structure, and some minor alterations have been made.

(I was at in the First Year at a secondary school just the other side of St John's Station to the accident site in 1957 - we were sent home an hour early due to the thick fog and it took my bus around two hours to do a normally 25-30 minute journey. The following day the school had to send two teachers to near the site to turn back pupils eager to see the damage!)

 

[Horizon22]

Yes very temporary and the fact its still there is somewhat endemic of British infrastructure planning! It reminds me of the "temporary" Hogarth flyover on the A4 in Chiswick.

As anyone who knows the area is aware Lewisham and surrounding junctions could ideally do with being demolished and started again but the inconvenience and cost would be astounding.

 

[Dunfanaghy Rd]

There used to be a stock of Military Trestling at Woking - where Day's Stone yard is now. Clever stuff; only 1 size of bolt needed, and all the joining faces were the same size, too. Mix and match would have been relatively easy.
Pat

 

[hwl]

Also worth a look at the London reconnections articles on the the various St John Disasters:
e.g.

Tragedy and Turnaround: A History of St Johns Station - Part 2 - London Reconnections

The leading source for independent news and analysis about transport in London and beyond. Award-winning coverage of transport infrastructure and politics alongside stories about the history of the Capital's transport networks.

www.londonreconnections.com

 

[Geogregor]

Yes very temporary and the fact its still there is somewhat endemic of British infrastructure planning! It reminds me of the "temporary" Hogarth flyover on the A4 in Chiswick.

As anyone who knows the area is aware Lewisham and surrounding junctions could ideally do with being demolished and started again but the inconvenience and cost would be astounding.

I think that might be an issue. They don't want to touch that bridge until they know what to do around Lewisham in the long term.