GALTON BRIDGE 1829 Smethwick Thomas Telford HEW 1197 SP029 890 N52o 30' 7.1" W1o 58' 44.9"
The original Birmingham Canal was laid out by James Brinkley in the 1770's following the contour lines to maintain the level which resulted in a very lengthy canal. ThomasTelford was commissioned in the 1820's to make improvements. This bridge crosses a deep cutting he made which lowered the Birmingham Canal level and eliminated six summit locks.
The design of the iron work is very similar to Telford's Holt Fleet Bridge and his Mythe Bridge. However, Telford always shows originality and flare in the design of the masonry abutments of his bridges (having apprenticed as a lad with a mason). The masonry of all three of these bridges is unique to that bridge, so that a casual observer would not notice the similarity of the iron work. A single cast iron arch has a 150 foot span. There are six arch ribs, each made up of seven segments of diagonally intersecting ribs. The bottom chord of each rib is accentuated with a band of different diamond pattern similar to that of the foot bridges for the Birmimgham Canal he also designed. They were all cast by the Horseley Iron Works.
The Galton Bridge is now adjacent to a handsome, simple arch viaduct of blue Staffordshire brick and the train station is beside the north end of the bridge.