The Britannia Railway Bridge

The bridge was built over the Mersey at this point in order to shorten the railway route between London and Liverpool (by 9 miles). Parliamentary permission for the route change was given in 1845 and the bridge was opened for traffic in 1869.

This high level bridge was designed by the Liverpool engineer  William Baker and is a three span, wrought iron structure supported on massive piers, and  crosses  the 1000 ft Runcorn Gap, with Runcorn lying on the south bank of the Mersey and Widnes on the north.

The bridge was built at such a height (75 feet above the river high water mark) on the insistence of shippers who demanded that  the bridge be high enough to allow sailing ships to pass safely under at any state of the tide. This height became the norm for all subsequent bridges over the canal. 

Great care had to be taken when building the canal as it passes very close to the foundations of the southern side of the bridge.