The Albert Edward Bridge is a railway bridge spanning the River Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

 at Coalbrookdale

Coalbrookdale

Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. This is where iron ore was first smelted by Abraham Darby using easily mined "coking coal". The coal was drawn from drift mines in the sides...

 in Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England.

History

Opened on 1 November 1864, its design is almost identical to Victoria Bridge

Victoria Bridge, Worcestershire

The Victoria Bridge is a 200 ft single span railway bridge crossing the River Severn between Arley and Bewdley in Worcestershire. Opened for traffic on 31 January 1861, the original railway line was closed in 1963. The bridge now carries the operational heritage Severn Valley Railway...

 which carries the Severn Valley Railway

Severn Valley Railway

The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route...

 over the Severn between Arley and Bewdley in Worcestershire. Designed by John Fowler

John Fowler (engineer)

Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet KCMG LLD was an English civil engineer specialising in the construction of railways and railway infrastructure. In the 1850s and 1860s, he was engineer for the world's first underground railway, London's Metropolitan Railway, built by the "cut-and-cover" method under...

, its 200 feet (61 m) span cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

 arch

Arch

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...

 has four ribs, each of nine parts bolted together. The moulds for the radiused beam castings for the bridge were prepared by Thomas Parker at the Coalbrookdale Iron Company. Originally built to carry the Wenlock, Craven Arms and Lightmoor Extension Railway

Wenlock, Craven Arms and Lightmoor Extension railway

The Wenlock, Craven Arms and Lightmoor Extension railway was a railway in Shropshire, England. It was built as two portions either end of the Much Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway between 1864 and 1867 and formed part of the Wellington to Craven Arms Railway...

 of the Wellington and Severn Junction Railway

Wellington and Severn Junction railway

The Wellington and Severn Junction railway was a railway in Shropshire, England. It was built between 1857 - 1861 and formed part of the Wellington to Craven Arms Railway. For much of its working life it was operated by the Great Western Railway and subsequently the Western Region of British Railways...

 across the river, it now carries coal traffic as part of the line between Lightmoor Junction

Lightmoor junction

Lightmoor Junction was a railway junction situated between Ironbridge Power Station at Buildwas and Madeley Junction in Shropshire, England.It was from Lightmoor Junction that a line once ran towards Wellington via Doseley and Horsehay...

 and Ironbridge Power Station

Ironbridge Power Station

The Ironbridge power stations refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations which have occupied a site on the banks of the River Severn at Buildwas in Shropshire, England. The current Ironbridge B power station is operated by E.ON UK...

.

The bridge's timber and wrought iron

Wrought iron

thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...

 deck was replaced by a structural steel

Structural steel

Structural steel is steel construction material, a profile, formed with a specific shape or cross section and certain standards of chemical composition and mechanical properties...

 deck in 1933. It may be one of the last large cast iron railway bridges to have been built. Due to its age and the condition of the ironwork, traffic over the bridge is restricted to a 5 miles per hour (2.2 m/s) speed limit to minimise stress. Although it carries two tracks only the one on the downstream side is still in use.

The bridge is a Grade II Listed Building, one half by Shropshire Council, the other by Telford and Wrekin District Council as the boundary is mid-span.

Telford Steam Railway

Telford Steam Railway

The Telford Steam Railway is a heritage railway located at Horsehay, Telford in Shropshire, England, formed in 1976.The railway is operated by volunteers on Sundays and Bank Holidays from Easter to the end of September, and at Christmas...

have aspirations to run trains over the bridge using the presently unused track as part of their southern extension to Buildwas.