Moulsford Railway Bridge

Moulsford Railway Bridge
Moulsford Railway Bridge (original) from downstream
Coordinates	51°33′29″N 1°08′33″W / 51.55806°N 1.14250°W / 51.55806; -1.14250
Carries	Great Western Main Line
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	Moulsford
Maintained by	Network Rail
Heritage status	Grade II* listed
Characteristics
Design	Skew arch
Material	Brick
Height	21 feet 8 inches (6.60 m)[1]
No. of spans	4
Piers in water	3
Rail characteristics
No. of tracks	4
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrified	25 kV 50 Hz AC OHLE
History
Designer	Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Opened	1839 and 1892
Location

Moulsford Railway Bridge, also known locally as "Four Arches" bridge,^[2] is a pair of parallel bridges located a little to the north of Moulsford and South Stoke in Oxfordshire, UK. It carries the Great Western Main Line from Paddington, London to Wales and the West across the River Thames. The bridge lies between the stations at Goring & Streatley and Cholsey, and crosses the Thames at an oblique angle on the reach between Cleeve Lock and Benson Lock.

The original Moulsford Railway Bridge was built between 1838 and 1840, having been designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the main trunk route of the Great Western Railway. Built to carry a pair of broad gauge tracks across the Thames, it consists of four low semi-elliptical arches spanning the Thames at a considerably skewed angle of 60 degrees. During the 1890s, a second bridge was built immediately parallel to the original structure, enabling the railway to be expanded to a quadruple track configuration. The bridge was subsequently recognised as a Grade II* listed structure.^[3] During the 2010s, the lines across the structure were electrified