Stanley Dock,Bascule Bridge,Liverpool -3-10

[kevsy21]

The term 'Bascule' is derived from the French word for a see-saw - 'Bacule'. A bascule bridge is one in which the deck or roadway can be raised around a horizontal hinge or axis.
At the western end of Stanley Dock, the dock road crosses this bascule bridge. The bridge was raised by rocking back under the weight of water-filled counterbalances to allow ships to enter the dock. It does not need to be lifted to allow canal boats to pass, which is just as well, as it is not currently in working order.
The bridge was built in the late 19th century at a time when the docks were undergoing radical changes and refurbishment.
Visited today with Georgie (cheers m8) and we managed to get rare access to the control room for a great explore.

 

[Trinpaul]

Very interesting........oh, great pics too

 

[Engineer]

Bascule Bridge.

Very nice old kit there, thanks for posting.

 

[Mr Sam]

super cool!!!

the cramped little rooms look like 10-20mm territory

 

[Black Shuck]

Blimey Im just loving all those Electric Gizmos in there1 W have around 5 of those Bascule bridges down here they really are something. Well done.

 

[The Cat Crept In]

Great pics very well done.

 

[wherever i may roam]

good stuff mate,glad you done it

 

[Goldie87]

Thats fantastic stuff, nice work

 

[Foxylady]

Fabulous bridge...great to see all the stuff inside the control room. Very neat.

 

[jhluxton]

Past near there on the way to Costco today and noticed that work appears to have started on repairing the bridge which as been closed to traffic for around 2 years.

Visitors to this site may not know that three of these bridges remain intact on the Birkenhead side of the river Mersey. They are built to the Schertzer Rolling Lift design.

Two at Birkenhead - "A" Bridge on the "Four Bridges" Road and Duke Street are still in operation moving regularly to allow the passage of ships.

A third, the Edgerton Bridge at Morpeth Dock was restored in the 1990s as a museum piece with the intention of opening the engine room to visitors. It was open for one or two years in the early days of the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway. Unfortunately despite restoration lack of visitors and vandals means that it is now closed to visitors and its windows boarded.

By then ships couldn't pass beneath the bridge as the access to Morpeth Dock from East Float had been blocked by the removal of another bridge on the "Four Bridges" route.

The remains of "C" bridge though with the lifting mechanism and engine room removed remain near the Twelve Quays Norfolk Line terminal.

John

 

[kevsy21]

Past near there on the way to Costco today and noticed that work appears to have started on repairing the bridge which as been closed to traffic for around 2 years.

Visitors to this site may not know that three of these bridges remain intact on the Birkenhead side of the river Mersey. They are built to the Schertzer Rolling Lift design.

Two at Birkenhead - "A" Bridge on the "Four Bridges" Road and Duke Street are still in operation moving regularly to allow the passage of ships.

A third, the Edgerton Bridge at Morpeth Dock was restored in the 1990s as a museum piece with the intention of opening the engine room to visitors. It was open for one or two years in the early days of the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway. Unfortunately despite restoration lack of visitors and vandals means that it is now closed to visitors and its windows boarded.

By then ships couldn't pass beneath the bridge as the access to Morpeth Dock from East Float had been blocked by the removal of another bridge on the "Four Bridges" route.

The remains of "C" bridge though with the lifting mechanism and engine room removed remain near the Twelve Quays Norfolk Line terminal.

John

Thanks for the info. Heres 2 of the bridges ive captured.

 

[Walrus75]

Nice one.
I think Pegasus Bridge (think WW2, D-Day) was one of these Bascule bridges.

 

[tigger2]

Nice one.
I think Pegasus Bridge (think WW2, D-Day) was one of these Bascule bridges.

Indeed it was...nice image of it: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pegasus_Bridge_1944.jpg

Tower Bridge is a double leaf bascule

 

[jhluxton]

Thanks for the info. Heres 2 of the bridges ive captured.

For info the top one is the "A" bridge on Four Bridges and the second "Duke Street" bridge. The two working ones.

The other evening I found a couple of slides of when the engine room of the Edgerton bridge was open to the public in the early 90s. They had done a great restoration job at the time. Sadly all that money spent and its been allowed to decay again.

John