Tamworth Road railway bridge, Sawley

Image: © Alan Murray-Rust Taken: 1 Jan 2018

Built in 1839 for the Midland Counties Railway. Listed Grade II it has historical significance as a very early example of a skew arch. See https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1417676 for the very comprehensive description of the history of the bridge. A feature of the bridge has always been its very restricted headroom, which has always prevented the use of double deck buses. Local operator Barton Transport experimented with an ultra-low-height bus http://www.old-bus-photos.co.uk/?p=36241 but were never permitted to use it on services under the bridge. As can be seen in the picture, even with the roadway dipping to a lower level under the bridge the allowed height is only 12 ft 3 inches/3.7 metres. Even when first built this was a problem, as the turnpike trustees were concerned about flooding and insisted on a second small arch alongside (at normal ground level) but of course more restricted headroom still. See http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/55101

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