Clifton Bridge (Nottingham)

Clifton Bridge
Clifton Bridge from the south bank of the River Trent
Coordinates	52°55′30″N 1°09′57″W / 52.9251°N 1.1658°WCoordinates: 52°55′30″N 1°09′57″W / 52.9251°N 1.1658°W
Carries	A52 Road
Crosses	River Trent
Characteristics
Design	Twin Concrete Arch Bridge
Total length	275ft
History
Opened	5 June 1958

Clifton Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Trent and carrying the A52 road to the west of the city of Nottingham, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England.

It was completed and opened to traffic in March 1958 and is constructed of pre-stressed concrete. It is the next upstream road bridge from the older famous Trent Bridge. Clifton Bridge was initially built to relieve traffic pressures on Trent Bridge.

One of the bridges over the Trent at Clifton Bridge includes a section of the former B680 (which followed the route into Nottingham now used by the A453). The 275 ft east bridge was formally opened on 5 June 1958 by Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy. At the time it was the longest pre-stressed concrete bridge in the country^[1].

With the addition of the west bridge the crossing became dual-carriageway as the A614 as part of a 1 ¹⁄₄-mile (2.0 km) £3.2 million section (equivalent to £38,075,324 in 2015),^[2], opening in 1972.

The bridge is also open to segregated pedestrian and cycle traffic.

In 1994 a survey revealed corrosion damage to up to 25% of the pre stressing wires. The bridge was strengthened by post-stressing with additional external cables. ^[1]

General references

Finch, RM; Goldstein, A (March 1959). Clifton Bridge, Nottingham: Initial Design Studies & Model Test. Vol. 12. Inst. of Civil Engineers.

1. [EU REHABCON project report IPS-2000-00063, Annex L "Strengthening of concrete structures using external post-tensioning"]
2. UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2016), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.