Galton Bridge is a cast-iron bridge in Smethwick, near Birmingham, in central England. It was built by Thomas Telford to carry a road across the new main line of the Birmingham Canal, which was built in a deep cutting. The bridge is 26 ft (7.9 m) wide, 150 ft (46 m) long, and 70 ft (21 m) above the canal, making it reputedly the highest single-span arch bridge in the world when it was built. Galton Bridge was cast at the nearby Horseley Ironworks, and has masonry abutments. The design includes decorative lamp-posts and X-shaped bracing in the spandrels. In the 1840s, a railway bridge was built from one of the abutments, with a parapet in keeping with the original. Galton Bridge carried traffic for over 140 years until it was bypassed by a new road in the 1970s, and now only carries pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge is one of six built by Telford that share common design features and the only one still standing without modification. It is a Grade I listed building. (Full article...)