Kingston Railway Bridge
Kingston Railway Bridge crosses the River Thames near Kingston upon Thames, England carrying the South West Trains looping branch line from London Waterloo to Shepperton and Richmond. The bridge links Kingston and Hampton Wick stations, and crosses the Thames on the reach above Teddington Lock. There are arches on both sides over dry land and that on the Kingston side has a road running though it.
The first bridge was opened for traffic in July, 1863. This was a cast-iron bridge of five arches, designed by J. E. Errington shortly before he died. The work was supervised by Mr. W. R. Galbraith, the contractor being Thomas Brassey.
'It is worthy of notice that the whole of the sewage from the parish of Hampton Wick is carried over this bridge on its way to the sewage works of the Kingston Corporation on the Surrey side of the river, where it is treated for precipitation, and the effluent then flows into the Thames. When the drainage for the district of Hampton Wick was being designed in 1889, an arrangement was made with the railway company, which allowed the laying of a 6-in. wrought-iion main, and this pipe was carried over the bridge in a timber casing placed in the 6-ft. way, and the sewage is forced across from the Middlesex side of the river by pneumatic pressure on the Shone system.'[1]
1907 The bridge was replaced with one designed by J. W. Jacomb Hood, with steelwork by the Horseley Co. It has five arches: three span the Thames; two span dry land, which on the Kingston bank includes a road. Its design closely resembles the present Richmond Railway Bridge.