page_title: Bridgwater railway station
section_title: Somerset Bridge
hierarchical_section_title: Bridgwater railway station / Somerset Bridge
caption_attribution_description: English: Railway bridge over the River Parrett
context_page_description: Bridgwater railway station serves Bridgwater in Somerset, England. It is on the Bristol to Taunton Line and is operated by Great Western Railway. It is 151 miles 47 chains from London Paddington via Bristol Temple Meads.
  Originally built to the designs of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the station is now a Grade II* listed building.
context_section_description: On the southern edge of Bridgwater the railway had to cross the River Parrett, which was still a navigable river in those days. Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed a brick bridge with a 100 feet (30 m) span but a rise of just 12 feet (3.7 m), this was flatter than his famous Maidenhead Railway Bridge across the River Thames.
  Work started in 1838 and was completed in 1841. Brunel left the centering scaffold in place as the foundations were still settling but was forced to remove it in 1843 to reopen the river for navigation.  He demolished the brick arch and had it replaced with a timber arch within six months, without interrupting the traffic on the railway.  This was in turn replaced in 1904 by a steel girder bridge.
caption: The 1904 Somerset Bridge
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