River Irwell Railway Bridge

The River Irwell Railway Bridge was built for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR), the world's first passenger railway which used only steam locomotives and operated as a scheduled service, near Water Street in Manchester, England. The stone railway bridge, built in 1830 by George Stephenson, was part of Liverpool Road railway station. The bridge was designated a Grade I listed building on 19 June 1988. The bridge was built by the L&MR on its line between Liverpool and Manchester. The bridge spanned the Irwell just before the terminus at Liverpool Road and was not part of the original plan. Construction was marred by an accident in April 1830 when eleven workers were drowned after an overcrowded boat sank after colliding with a cofferdam being used in the construction of the bridge's central pier. On 15 September 1830, the L&MR opened the line and the bridge. In 2016, the bridge was restored as part of the programme to construct the Ordsall Chord, but the railway line severed the link between the bridge, which remains in use, and the former Liverpool Road Station.