{"id":36312,"date":"2023-04-28T17:10:28","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T16:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=36312"},"modified":"2023-04-28T17:10:28","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T16:10:28","slug":"ihbcs-features-heritage-from-the-doorstep-gaunless-bridge-the-worlds-first-metal-railway-bridge-to-be-rescued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=36312","title":{"rendered":"IHBC\u2019s features \u2018Heritage from the Doorstep\u2019: Gaunless Bridge, the world’s first metal railway bridge, to be rescued"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The remains of the world\u2019s first cast iron railway bridge are to once again carry traffic as part of a footpath and cyclepath that is being built along the 26 miles of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, reports The Northern Echo<\/em>.<\/h3>\n
image: By Uncredited copy of a drawing<\/a> first published in the Engineer in 1875….<\/em><\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2026 As the world\u2019s first iron railway bridge, the bridge is a key part of our rail heritage\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

The Northern Echo<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n

Historic England has\u2026 announced that it has awarded Durham County Council \u00a3161,000 to repair the remains of the bridge which carried the pioneering railway over the River Gaunless at West Auckland\u2026<\/p>\n

Giles Proctor, from Historic England, said: \u201cGaunless Bridge has a significant role in the history of the railway and the repair of its abutments mark the first step in securing the bridge\u2019s legacy as a part of the new walking and cycling route.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cllr Elizabeth Scott, of the county council, said: \u201cAs the world\u2019s first iron railway bridge, the bridge is a key part of our rail heritage, both at a local and national level….\u201d<\/p>\n

The bridge was cast by John and Isaac Burrell at their foundry in Forth Street, Newcastle, to the designs of either George\u2026 or Robert Stephenson. Its strength is in the \u201clenticular\u201d shape of its leg supports \u2013 they look like a lentil seed or a biconvex lens and they enabled the bridge to be built without a single rivet or nut\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u2026.The bridge remained in use until 1901 when it was no longer able to take the weight of the increasingly heavy coal wagons\u2026.<\/p>\n

Niall Hammond, chairman of the Friends of the S&DR, said: \u201cWe are delighted with this and look forward to significant improvements to the landscape setting and interpretation so that visitors, school groups and the local community can appreciate the world class engineering marvel\u2026.We also hope very soon to see the metal sections of the bridge rescued from obscurity and given a suitable pride of place in Shildon at Locomotion Museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The remains of the world\u2019s first cast iron railway bridge are to once again carry traffic as part of a footpath and cyclepath that is being built along the 26 miles of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, reports The Northern … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36312"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36314,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36312\/revisions\/36314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}