This is Belasis Bridge in Billingham which carries Belasis Avenue over the Port Clarence Branch Line railway The signal box on the branch line is viewed from the bridge towards Port Clarence.
Photograph and details courtesy of Martin Dunnill.
Belasis Bridge and Signal Box
First of all can I apologize to Fred for getting his name wrong (I must read my comments before I post them).
The reason for such a large bridge on a branch line railway becomes clear if you type Haverton East ICI sidings into the search box on the picturestockton site. The photo that appears is from c1957 and shows the Railway sidings for the vast ICI complex. The bottom photo of the two on the link shows a view from the bridge in 1957 including the Belasis signal box with associated railway sidings.
I guess it was built with two spans (each wide enough for two tracks) in anticipation of future expansion. I’ve not seen a map or image that shows that the southern span (on the left in the first photo) has ever had any railway lines running under it. So it is twice as wide as has ever been needed, a gamble that never paid off?
Thank you for the information Jmay. From viewing maps of the area from 1947 I believe you are correct that railway lines only ran under one span of the bridge and that expansion of the rail network under the second span was deemed unnecessary.
A possible explanation for this is that the Billingham ICI complex was linked to two railway branch lines. At the north east end was the Port Clarence Branch Line which is the one this bridge crosses. While to the south east it was linked to the Billingham Beck Branch Line. It may be that the majority of the rail traffic used the Billingham Beck Branch Line
A really beefy structure! It deserves closer views as it appears that extra plates have been riveted in to increase the strength of the girders. I presume that the sides of the walkway are made of cast iron.
Any comments Martin?
Hello Frank, I believe the bridge is as it was originally built. I don’t know if the addition you refer to is the structure on top of the bride (best viewed in the photo taken of the road across the bridge). This is the truss which gives the bridge type its name. The bridge deck sits on girders and the trusses give additional support. The sides of the walkways may well be cast iron as they have an ornate design. As this is a 1930’s bridge most of the structure will be hot rolled steel.
Incidentally newspaper reports of the time say this was one of the largest bridges of its type in England.
In December 1934 Durham County Council invited tenders for the construction of an over-bridge at Belasis Lane Level Crossing. The works comprised the construction of a steel truss bridge in two spans of 132 feet and 126 feet with trough decking on concrete abutments and piers faced with brick.
It wouldn’t be until October 1936 that the main girders of the bridge were placed in position. They were manufactured by the Tees-Side Bridge and Engineering Company Ltd, Cargo Fleet. The making of the approaches to the bridge required 50,000 tons of bricks and slag. Sir Robert McAlpine and Sons, Newcastle were the contractors. The bridge scheme cost £60,000.
The Furness Ship building Company, Haverton Hill also supplied some of the steelwork.