The River Ouse swing bridge is a road bridge over the River Ouse in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four cou ...

, England. It was opened in 2004 when the

A63 road The A63 is a major road in Yorkshire, England between Leeds and Kingston upon Hull. A section between North Cave and Hull forms the eastward continuation of the M62 motorway and is part of the unsigned Euroroute E20. Leeds – Howden The ...

bypassed the town of

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

, which traffic previously had to go through to cross the river. It is one of several bridges over the River Ouse between

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

and the mouth of the Ouse, where it joins the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

History

Until the A63 bypass was opened, traffic through the town of Selby was measured at 18,000 vehicles per day, of which at least 10% were heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). The main contractor on the bypass project was Skanska, with engineering and design carried out by High Point Rendel. The route of the bypass and bridge was fully opened in June 2004. The swing bridge takes between eight and ten minutes to open for river traffic. On 22 June 2004, eleven days after it was opened, the bridge became stuck in the open position after it had been moved to allow a river vessel through. The issue was caused by a design problem with the hydraulic jacks on the bridge. The bridge consists of two fixed girders connected to an

orthotropic deck An orthotropic bridge or orthotropic deck is typically one whose fabricated deck consists of a structural steel deck plate stiffened either longitudinally with ribs or transversely, or in both directions. This allows the fabricated deck both t ...

. The fixed length part of the bridge is on the western bank of the River Ouse, and is in length. The swing section aligns to the eastern bank. The bridge is wide, and weighs . A clearance of is available to river vessels without having to open the bridge. This height clearance is determined from the normal water line away from exceptional tides.

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Sources

External links

Bypass legislation order
{{Swing bridges in Yorkshire Bridges across the River Ouse, Yorkshire Bridges completed in 2004 Bridges in the East Riding of Yorkshire Road bridges in England 2004 establishments in England Selby Bridges in North Yorkshire