Warrington Transporter Bridge

A transporter bridge has a moving platform - called a gondola - that is hung from a bogie high above it., suspended by cables. The bogie runs along rails from one side of the river to the other, and hence the gondola below does likewise. They were used to cross navigable rivers, as they do not obstruct the river - an alternative to a lifting or swing bridge.

Less than two dozen were built around the would, and only eight remain; three in the UK. The other two are in Middlesborough and Newport. None are currently in working order, though the other two are in better condition than this one!

The Warrington Transporter Bridge is unusual (even for transporter bridges) in that it was built for private industry. The local chemical plant was producing waste calcium carbonate and dumping in in the Mersey, and were told not to, so decided to build a cement plant to process it instead. The only land was the other side of the Mersey.

This was my first properly look at it. The buildings on the right are where the cement plant was.


The pipes in the foreground are park of a chemical plant you have to walk through to see the bridge (probably carrying steam at one time). I presume there is a public right of way that the chemical company is obliged to observe. You have to follow a green line, and a recorded voice tells you so!

A closer look.


The end on the right side had the control room and motor, so is a little bigger, and has what might be a chimney for a heater.

I visited it as part of a walking tour run by the Friends of Warrington Transporter Bridge. In this shot you can see the tour guide pointing at the bridge!


The far end, and you can see the ladders the operator had to climb to get to the control room.


Looking directly along it, you can just see the wheels that carried the cable that pulled the bogie. To the right of it is a very rickety walkway. Between the two legs on the far side you can see the gondola.


A close up of the gondola.


And this is where the gondola would come to rest on this side. Note the guide rails at the sides. The operator had to make sure it was not swinging too much when it went between the legs.


The bridge officially closed in the mid-sixties, but was occasionally used for about another ten years. There is a hope it will be operational again one day. Apparently some of the chemical plant is to be demolished and the riverside redeveloped, so not as far-fetched as it might be. Not quite.

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