3-071-199 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Skeldergate Bridge, York, 1881. The new bridge...has now been completed, and opened for carriage traffic. It consists of five arches, three of which cross the river Ouse...The 30 ft. span next the Lodge is what is termed a bascule or opening bridge, and can be easily raised and lowered by hydraulic machinery...The hydraulic machinery is supplied by Sir William Armstrong and Co., of Newcastle. It consists of two hydraulic cylinders, placed side by side, one for opening and one for closing the bridge. The hydraulic force-pump, adapted to work up to a pressure of 700 lb. per square inch, is worked directly from the crank-shaft of an "Otto's Silent Gas Engine." The machinery is placed in the abutment behind the Lodge. The total length of the bridge, including the abutments of the land arches, is 308 ft. 8in., but, including the longest retaining walls of the approach, it is 861 ft. 8 in. The width is 40 ft. The Corporation decided to divide the work, intrusting the ironwork to Messrs. Handyside and Co., of Derby, and doing the foundations and masonry by its own workmen, under the direction of Mr. Styan, the city surveyor. Mr. George Gordon Page, M.Inst. C.E., of London, was the engineer; and Mr. Robert Nunn, the resident engineer'. From "Illustrated London News", 1881.