Palatine Bridge

A bridge between Chapel Street in Salford and Hunts Bank in Manchester was first proposed in 1858, as a means of improving road links between Salford and Manchester Victoria station, each separated by the River Irwell. When the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway applied to Parliament to build a railway link between Salford (New Bailey Street) station and Victoria, Salford Corporation opposed the bill, citing the township's poor access to Victoria Station. The railway company was forced by parliamentary committee to compensate the Corporation to the tune of £25,000, to be used to improve the aforementioned transport links.

The land required on Chapel Street for the Salford approach to the proposed bridge was donated by Samuel Brooks, who as part of the deal insisted that a 150 ft abutment was built on the Salford bank of the river, to improve the rateable value of nearby properties. Designed by W. Radford, Palatine Bridge comprises a single span (125 ft on the south side, 88 ft on the north side), built from twelve wrought-iron box girders attached to stone abutments. Fixed to these girders, wrought-iron road joints support iron covering plates, which themselves support the pavements and road surface, the latter formed from 4 in granite cubes. The gradient 1 in 30. The bridge parapets are cast iron and…