Victoria Bridge

The Victoria Bridge crosses the River Severn between Arley and Bewdley in Worcestershire, England. At the time of its construction, the 200-foot railway bridge was the longest single span cast iron bridge in Britain.The cast-iron arch bridge has four arch ribs each of nine parts bolted together. The arch elements were cast by the Coalbrookdale Company and the bridge was built by Thomas Brassey, Samuel Morton Peto and Edward Betts. Its design is almost identical to the Albert Edward Bridge which spans the Severn at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, both designed by John Fowler.Opened for traffic on 31 January 1862, the railway line was closed to traffic in 1963. The bridge survived the threat of demolition and was then used by the Severn Valley Railway. In May 1974, heritage passenger services were re-introduced between Alveley Colliery and Bewdley over the Victoria Bridge. It was restored in 2004. The bridge has appeared in several films, including the 1978 film The Thirty-Nine Steps.