Bridges by the dozen.

As we came up to the view of the Mersey Crossing bridges we passed an old dock with some old kit in it.

The steam/electric floating crane, cable of lifting 259 ton in its day was built in the Netherlands in 1937 and its main job was to lift the lock gates into position along the MSC. It is for sale I believe if you fancy a project?

The Silver Jubilee Runcorn Bridge is being refurbished now the new 'toll' bridge is open. I would love to be the scaffold company. There seems to be chipping and painting going on with plenty of noise going in. Due to the work above the bridge has been closed to traffic and pedestrians and a free shuttle bus is provided for the later.

The Runcorn Railway Bridge was opened in 1868 by the LNWR Railway. It is sometimes called the Ethelfleda Bridge after the ruler of Anglo Saxon Kingdom of Mercia. It is also known as the Britannia Bridge as at either end of the bridge are the Coat or Arms of Liverpool and London, with Britannia in the middle. The Silver Jubilee Bridge was opened in 1961 and replaced the  Widnes/Runcorn Transporter bridge. It was widened between 1975 and 1977 and when completed was renamed the Silver Jubilee Bridge following Queen Elizabeth's celebrations.

All the way up the MSC there is evidence of old docks and moorings that must have been a hive of industry at one time, providing employment  for thousands. There is still plenty of  working berths and tonnages are building up again. These new flats are built on old docks.

After Runcorn there are plenty of swing bridges and others to keep the interest. This one is Old Quay Swing Bridge.

The length of the MSC is lit by these beacons. The lights aren't very bright but are just to show the edge. There are hundreds of herons on the MSC and we witnessed several being chased away by a more dominant one. I wonder if they actually need a small area of dominance as there are so many. The canal water seems very clear, and there are obviously plenty of fish due to the number of birds using it as a larder.

Unfortunatel you don't get a great view of the new Mersey Gateway Bridge from the MSC but it does look quite spectacular. The six lane bridge is a toll bridge, although there is plenty of dispute about that just at the moment, and was opened on 14th October 2017. When the Silver Jubilee Bridge reopens it will also be a toll bridge. They are still finishing off the landscaping under the bridge.

Much of the canal seems to have been hewn out of the bed rock of red sandstone. I suppose this makes it easy to maintain the depth etc but must have made it hard work, and slow going.

Three hours after leaving Eastham Lock we are at Moore Lane Swing Bridge and have to call in to the Port Control so that they can get the next lock ready for us. As you can see many of the bridges are swing bridges that are operated  from the  control cabin on the short tower. The bridge swings round a cylindriycal pivot and the whole is/was operated by hydraulic power provided by the water in the taller tower.

So that there was no disruption to the rail traffic the lines were raised high above the canal when it was built and the maximum height of a vessel allowed to navigate up the MSC is 70'.

Latchford High Level Bridge was one of the original road bridges that were built on the cantilever principle. It seems that they are suffering from  modern usage. They are just two way and seem to have speed limits of 20mph imposed on them.

At the height of its trade in the 1950's The trade to the Manchester Ship canal was over 18 million tons. I expect the locals got sick to death of the swing bridges being opened at the wrong time. In Hull it was always a good excuse for being late and the amount of traffic up the River Hull was tiny compared to this.