Tientsin Swing Bridge
1888 Erected across the Peiho River at the City of Tientsin to carrying the main line of the China Railways as well as ordinary road traffic. All of the ironwork was constructed by Patent Shaft and Axletree Co.
The Engineers were Claude William Kinder and James Cleminson.
From The Engineer [1]:-
'The
bridge has a total length of 400ft., and consists of eleven spans,
the central being a swing span of 150ft. The fixed spans consist
of plate girders upon which the heavy timber flooring is built,
The main girders of the swing span consist of built-up trusses tied together by strong cross girders and gussets in order to
dispense with overhead stays. The revolving gear is arranged
upon Wawn's patent arrangement, wherein the rack is carried
by and revolves on the live ring - a very simple arrangement,
whereby the speed of the rollers at the face of the bottom roller
path is accelerated. The roller path is carried upon a square
frame, built up of plate girders, which in turn rests at each
corner upon a cluster of piles driven into the bed of the river,
an arrangement adopted in order to offer as little obstruction as possible
to the flow of the river, which is at times rapid, especially after the breaking up of the ice. '
The span will be swung by hand-gear, actuated by movable
capstans easy in action and readily removable and contained
within the limits of the main girders, in order to avoid projection beyond the girders, and thus offer no obstruction to passing
craft when the span is open. The locking gear consists of a
wedge slipper actuated by screws and bevel gearing, controlled
by a hand-wheel carried on the end struts of the main girders.
This arrangement is applied at both ends of each girder, and in
action 1t takes up a portion of the weight of the span at each of
its four corners, in addition to locking the span in position when
closed. The fixed spans are also carried upon wooden piles,
which throughout the brdge are made of native - malava -
timber, which experience shows to be almost as durable as iron.
The rails are laid down the centre of the bridge and flush with
the roadway, in order that they may offer no impediment to the
ordinary wheel traffic.
Owing to the exigencies of the climate, which wake it necessary that all structural work should be frequently painted, the
details of the br1dge are so arranged as to be easily accessible in
all parts for the purpose of painting.
The whole of the ironwork of this structure was built by the
Patent Shaft and Axletree Company, to whom the highest
credit is due not only for the manner in which they carried out
the intentions and requirements of the engineers , Mr. Kinder
and Mr. Cleminson, in a difficult case, but for the remarkably
short time - sixty-eight days- in which they executed and
shipped the work.'