Springfield Lane Bridge Salford

Initial plans for this bridge were prepared by the Borough Engineer’s department under A W Fowler (qv) and continued to completion by Arthur Jacob.

BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER IRWELL, SALFORD. We  illustrate at page 442, a new wrought iron road bridge, now in course of erection over the river Irwell, for the Corporation of Salford. The design in point of construction does not present any special departure from that of works of a similar character, but considerable care has been taken to relieve, at a comparatively low cost, the plainness, not to say ugliness, which plate girder work usually presents. Sufficient has not, we think, been done by corporations and other local authorities to cultivate a sound taste in the designing of work of this kind, but the Salford Corporation are somewhat exceptional in this respect, having lately erected more than one handsome bridge over the Irwell. The abutments of the Springfield‑lane Bridge are of Yorkshire stone finely tooled, the pillars at the ends of the main girders being treated ornamentally, and in a successful manner. Finely moulded castings are combined with the stonework in such a way that all beads and angles which would, if of stone, be likely to suffer damage by accident or wilful injury, are either out of reach or placed in recesses. The cast iron grilles to be fixed in each bay of the longitudinal girders will be as light as is consistent with strength, and will be so attached that each one of them can easily be removed for the purpose of painting the wrought ironwork behind it. The bridge, which has a span of 100 feet, consists of a pair of wrought iron box girders which support the cross girders and the road war. The available width between the main girder is 42 feet, divided into a carriageway of 25 feet and two footways of 8 feet 6 inches each. The timber blocks of which the carriageway will be formed will be bedded directly on the top of the cambered road plates, with a layer of asphalt only between them, which will it is expected give sufficient elasticity for the traffic. It will be observed that the cross girders are of less than the usual depth for such a width of road way as 42 feet, but this and the mode of constructing the road surface were rendered necessary by the levels of the streets leading to the bridge being very low relatively to the height of the maximum river floods; one object in the design being to elevate the bridge as much as possible, and at the same time to secure good gradients on the approaches. The work is the design of Mr. Arthur Jacob, Engineer to the Corporation, and it is being carried out by Messrs Abram Pilling and Son, contractors, at an estimated cost of £9,000. The following are the leading provisions of the specification for the ironwork. AThe whole of the wrought iron employed in the work shall be of the best quality, and shall be manufactured by a firm to be approved by the engineer, and shall be stamped with the manufacturer's name or customary mark. It shall be sound, tough, free from laminations, scales, cracks, and defects of every kind, and will have to be delivered at the works of the contractors in lots of not less than twenty-five. [The Engineer 18 June 1880 page 437]

Reference    Manchester Guardian Saturday 16 November 1878 Page 4 (Contracts)
Reference    Manchester Guardian 9 January 1879 page 6 - tender approval
Reference    Manchester Guardian 20 December 1880 page 8 - opening
Reference    British Architect 31 December 1880 Page 288
Reference    The Engineer 18 June 1880 page 437 and 442 (illustration)