Kingsland Bridge is a privately owned toll bridge

Toll bridge

A toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...

, 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...

 in Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

, 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...

. It is located near Shrewsbury School

Shrewsbury School

Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...

 and the cost for cars to cross is 20p. It is a Listed Building, Grade II.

History

A bill promoting the toll bridge was first introduced to Parliament in 1873, and eventually passed in 1880. The bridge was promoted by Henry Robertson, who was also M.P.

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Shrewsbury and designed by the civil engineer

Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...

 John William Grover

John William Grover

John William Grover , was an early English consulting civil engineer responsible for several notable buildings in London, and railway lines in England, Wales, Mexico and Venezuela. He was the inventor of the split washer....

. It was constructed by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company

Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company

The Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company is a renowned bridge building and structural engineering company based in Darlington, England. It has been involved in many major projects including the Victoria Falls Bridge and the Humber Bridge.-History:...

, which also built the Victoria Falls Bridge

Victoria Falls Bridge

The Victoria Falls Bridge crosses the Zambezi River just below the Victoria Falls and is built over the Second Gorge of the falls. As the river is the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, the bridge links the two countries and has border posts on the approaches to both ends, at the towns of Victoria...

. The bridge spans 212 feet (64.6m) and comprises two metal arch

Arch bridge

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...

 ribs, from which the main bridge deck is hung. It cost £11,156 to build.

Sources

• Blackwall, Anthony, Historic Bridges of Shropshire, Shropshire Libraries, 1985, ISBN 0-903802-31-7
• Listed status at Borough council and at English Heritage

Upstream: Porthill Bridge Porthill Bridge Porthill Bridge, also often referred to as Port Hill Footbridge, is a suspension bridge for pedestrians crossing the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England....

Kingsland Bridge 1881

Downstream: Greyfriars Bridge