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Bridges

Bridge 299, Kelling Heath at 38m17ch
This bridge is an elliptical arch of 25’
span built in 1885, carrying the road over the track. It
was built to span double track width, as overbridges
often were, although there may well have been an
original intention to provide a station/ loop here at
some stage. Had the proposed branch to Blakeney had been
built, eastbound trains would have turned to the left
immediately after the bridge.
Bridge 300, Culvert, Kelling Woods
at 39m48ch
The culvert is a circular brick culvert
of 4’ span and carries the outfall from the pond in
Kelling Woods. This dates from to the building of the
line in 1885.
Bridge 301, Spring Beck at 39m76ch
This bridge is a segmental brick arch of
32’ span carrying double track over Spring Beck. It is
of significantly larger span than would have been
necessary to span the watercourse and it is possible
that it also formed an access route for agricultural
users.
The original bridge, the southern side, was built in
1885 but to permit the construction of the passing loop,
it was widened to the north in 1901. The southern half
is constructed in local red bricks and is weaker than
the northern half. Today the passing loop joins the main
line short of the bridge.
As part of the upgrading of the axle capacity of the
railway, the track was
realigned onto the stronger northern half in 2002. At
the same time the track was removed and the arch
re-waterproofed.
A view looking towards Holt taken during the
waterproofing works in 2002. The original bridge is on
the left with the remains of the original northern
parapet visible in the centre.
Bridge 302, Sandy Lane, Weybourne,
at 40m02ch
This bridge was built in 1885 and since
the centre span was built to double track width, there
may always have been an intention to construct a station
or passing loop here. (Weybourne station was not opened until 1900).
The bridge is constructed in blue engineering brickwork
and has spans of 14’, 26’ and 14’. Strengthening tie
rods were installed through the arch in 2008.
Bridge 302a, Weybourne station
footbridge, at 40m07ch
This footbridge was originally the
Stowmarket station footbridge (No 280) built in 1900.
This became redundant under the Anglia Electrification
project in 1982. It was dismantled and brought to the
railway by David Pinkerton. The bridge was subsequently
refurbished and re-erected at Weybourne in 1990. At Stowmarket the bridge had a roof but this was not
required and was discarded. Although this bridge looks
‘right’ here, Weybourne never had a footbridge and
instead relied on a foot crossing. The bridge’s
neighbour (Bridge 281), which stood at the level
crossing at Stowmarket station, has also been preserved
and is today at Castle Hedingham station on the Colne
Valley Railway.
Bridge 303, Coast Road bridge, at
40m68ch
It’s location makes this bridge the most
photographed on the railway, as it carries
the line over
the A149 Coast Road with views to the sea beyond. This
bridge dating from the line’s construction in 1885,
originally had a deck of two wrought iron girders with
transverse trough decking. In the 1970s this was
strengthened by placing sections of flatbottom rail
inside each trough. By the 1980s the deck was assessed
as being too poor to repair and no longer strong enough
for the NNR’s operations. David Pinkerton arranged for
the purchase of one span from the three span bridge 1584
from Shippea Hill. This was delivered to Sheringham in
1982 and was shortened to suit its new situation during
the following year. The NNRs first ‘blockade’ took place
during the autumn of 1984 and the bridge was available
for traffic just in time for the Santa season.
However
the bridge will be most remembered for David’s tragic
death just as the project's completion was in sight and
a memorial plaque may be seen on its wing wall.
The bridge is unique on the NNR as it has the permanent
way carried on longitudinal timbers within the steel
girders. These timbers are now quite old and are
gradually being replaced by the PW team.
Bridge 304, Deadman’s Hill, at 41m
0ch
This bridge has three segmental brick
arch spans and carries a public footpath and farm access
over the line. The centre span is for a single line of
track only, unlike the other overbridges on the railway.
The roadway is unsurfaced and this has allowed water to
seep into the structure and has resulted in the
brickwork being severely damaged by frost action and
precautionary strapping was placed around the piers by
BR in the 1960’s. It is otherwise in reasonable
condition.
The Norfolk coast saw many preparations
for invasion in 1940 and this location shows two such
examples. There is a pillbox built into the approach
embankment
on
the north side. In addition there are sockets in the
roadway, covered by metal plates. Were an alarm to be
raised then these would have had sections of rail placed
into them to form an anti-tank barrier, covered by
anti-tank guns in Sheringham Park.
Bridge 305, Church Street,
Sheringham, at 42m 55ch
The
current bridge dates from 1905 when the original brick
bridge was replaced and is constructed of large wrought
iron girders carrying transverse trough decking. This
was carried out to allow the expansion of the yard and
the construction of platform 3.
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