This film is part of Free
Railway Bridge across the Thames
The Grosvenor Railway Bridge gets a 1960s upgrade while trains continue to thunder over it - an impressive engineering feat
Overview
The technical triumph of rebuilding a bridge while trains continue over it and boats travel underneath requires deep-sea divers, cofferdams and overloaded barges - no mean feat. There's even more to enjoy in the background details: an operational Battersea Power Station, riverside cranes at Nine Elms, the busy concourse and platforms of Victoria Station, and the Middlesbrough works where the new structure is made.
Film producer John Byrd had experience shooting construction work, having previously made Bridge across the Tagus, a film detailing the assembly of the Vila Franca Bridge near Lisbon, Portugal. That film was sponsored by Dorman, Long & Co, manufacturers of the new Grosvenor Bridge. Grosvenor Bridge between Battersea and Pimlico was originally known as Victoria Railway Bridge, and in 1968 it was said to be the busiest railway bridge in the world, with 1000 trains crossing it every day.
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