The present Whitchurch Bridge
The present Whitchurch Bridge is the third to be constructed at the
site. It was designed by Joseph Morris and built in 1902 by the Cleveland
Bridge and Engineering Company Ltd.
Whitchurch Bridge carries the B471 over the River Thames between Pangbourne in West Berkshire, and Whitchurch-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. It lies within the civil parish of Whitchurch-on-Thames, which in turn lies within the district of South Oxfordshire and the county of Oxfordshire.
The Bridge is subject to a statutory weight limit of 7.5 tonnes mgw. Access to the Bridge is restricted by a low railway over-Bridge on the Pangbourne (south) approach, and limiting road widths and a steep hill in Whitchurch-on-Thames. Carriageway width is 5.18m, and there is a single footway on the west (upstream) side of 1.3m width.
The Bridge is a four span continuous structure with cast iron trestle piers and brickwork abutments. There are two end spans, each 20.3m in length, and two inner spans of 20.75m. The north abutment has a fixed connection to the deck: the south abutment has elastometric rubber bearing pads. The main wrought iron plate girders are fixed to the cast iron column heads with bolted connections.
Each of the four spans is constructed of two main wrought iron longitudinal plate girders, with smaller section transverse wrought iron girders, supported on brick abutments and three river piers, each consisting of two piles with transverse cross-bracing. The carriageway is supported by wrought iron buckle plates between the transverse girders, overlaid with concrete. The parapet is of wrought iron latticework construction incorporated as part of the main longitudinal girders.
The Bridge has been subject to various strengthening improvements in the 1920's, 40's and 70's, including additional bracing around the column heads and between the pier columns.
Upstream fenders each consisting of three braced 300 X 300mm wooden piles at each pier have been in place for many years, and downstream fenders - to protect the Bridge piers from boat collisions - were added in 2005. The headroom for river traffic is 3.95m (summer river level), and the maximum depth of water under the Bridge is 4.4m, under the southern span.
Whitchurch Bridge lies within the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Whitchurch-on-Thames Conservation Area, and is a Grade II listed structure for planning purposes. The local Planning authority is South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC).
The Whitchurch Bridge Company's professional adviser on Bridge engineering issues is Oxfordshire County Council (OCC). The Bridge is subject to regular inspections by specialist contractors, supervised by the Company’s professional advisers at OCCl, to monitor its condition.
The Bridge is coming to the end of its useful life, and the Company plans to reconstruct it in 2011-2012: click here for details.