Windsor Railway Bridge

Windsor Railway Bridge is a wrought-iron bowstring bridge over the Thames between Romney Lock and Boveney Lock. It carries the single-track branch from Slough to Windsor & Eton. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it opened in 1849 as part of the Great Western Railway’s extension. The bridge had to leave the river completely unobstructed, so Brunel used three bowstring trusses on cast-iron piles. In 1908 the piles were replaced by brick abutments, shortening the span to 184 feet 6 inches. The structure became a Grade II* listed building in 1975. The bridge is the world’s oldest wrought-iron railway bridge still in regular use. Its skewed span was originally 202 feet, carried on 6-foot diameter piles filled with concrete. During the 1960s one track was removed, leaving space for a sewer and water main. The southern approach viaduct runs 2,000 feet to Windsor and Eton Central, while the northern one stretches 3,240 feet. Together they make a single bridge-and-viaduct structure more than a mile long. Visitors see the three bowstring trusses rising above the river, their wrought-iron ribs painted dark green. The brick abutments from 1908 sit at water level, and the upstream side shows where the second track once ran. The approaches are lined with brick arches, recently cleaned of graffiti. From the towpath the bridge looks light yet solid, a quiet monument to Brunel’s engineering.