Goole Railway Swing Bridge
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Also known as Skelton Viaduct and Hook Bridge.
This wrought iron plate girder viaduct with a 250 ft swing span over the River Ouse, near Goole, Yorkshire, was designed by Thomas Elliot Harrison for the Hull and Doncaster Branch of the North Eastern Railway and opened in 1869. Erected by Pease, Hutchinson and Co (Skerne Ironworks). The fixed spans were supplied by Butler and Pitts (Stanningley). Hydraulic equipment by W. G. Armstrong and Co[1]
Netwrok Rail photo showing hydraulic motors, gearing, turnatable and wheels here.
Arrangement: four fixed spans, one swing span and a fifth fixed span, double-track railway. Swing span turns on 26 conical rollers.
Sir W. G. Armstrong presented a paper describing the bridge to the IMechE in 1869. See here. Some of the drawings are reproduced above at reduced resolution.
The central column of the swing bridge contained a hydraulic accumulator (see Fig. 1 above). The bridge was turned by one of two geared three-cylinder hydraulic motors (Fig. 3). The hydraulic pumps for the accumulator were driven by 12 hp steam engines supplied by boilers located on the central pier. See Fig. 2.
Field boilers were used, as they offered fast steam raising and small dimensions (4.5 ft dia, 6.5 ft high)[2]
A hydraulic cylinder with opposed pistons was installed at each end of the swing bridge, acting through toggle joints to lift the ends of the bridge. After lifting, three resting blocks at each end were pushed into place by three small hydraulic cylinders, and the toggle joint levers were then released, all operated from the bridge cabin. See Figs. 4 - 6.
In order to know where to stop the bridge when swinging, the bridgeman was provided with an indicator resembling a clock, having two hands for 'coarse' and 'fine' position indication. When in the correct position, a spring-loaded bolt locked the swing section to the fixed girders. It was released from the control cabin by a system of levers and cables. See Fig. 6
Note: The machinery was probably very similar to that of the slightly later Swing Bridge, Newcastle, most of which has been either retained or preserved.
Gas
In response to a question about frost, raised during the discussion of the IMechE Paper, Mr Westmacott (presumably Henry Armstrong Westmacott) stated that gas jets were provided in the central pier and in the chambers containing the hydraulic cylinders at the ends of the bridge. The gas supply from Goole (to the south side of the bridge) had to be disconnected whenever the bridge was to be swung, and the gas supply to the burners was maintained by a reservoir (elastic bags) in the bridgeman's cabin. When the incoming gas supply was disconnected, the two ends of the pipes were automatically sealed by spring-loaded valves. The pipe on the swinging part of the bridge had a telescopic end, and was worked from the central part of the bridge by a lever and rod.