Lee Moor Tramway Bridge
at Marsh Mills, Plymouth
An early cast iron and timber tramroad bridge, which carried the Lee Moor Tramway (and prior to that, the Plymouth and Dartmoor Tramway?) over the river Plym. It is a very rare early example of the cast iron 'through arch' type. There are two spans with a central pier in the River Plym.
A small photo here shows one of the abutments, with a pair of rectangular openings above stone corbels, implying that horizontal timber beams were principal features of the structure. Below these are openings for diagonal struts.
1957 photo here, showing the distressed state of the bridge at that time, with a repair plate riveted over the junction of the two arches, and a collapsed timber strut.
English Heritage listing, with map, here. A contibutor to the listing entry states that the bridge was built in about 1829 or, at the latest, 1830, and was built toserve the Cann Slate Quarry prior the connection with the Lee Moor Tramway. The last train to cross the bridge ran on 26th August 1960.
Masonry repairs were carried out in 2013.[1]
This historically-important structure is now (2023) inaccessible for close study, having a high security fence at each end.
This is a very early example of an iron railway (tramway) bridge. It is also an early example of an iron through-arch bridge, which, together with the adoption of 'H'section ligaments for the castings, suggest a later date. For a much earlier example of an iron tramway bridge whose appearance belies its age, see Pontycafnau Bridge.