Bourne End Railway Bridge

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=November 2016}}

{{Infobox Bridge

|bridge_name= Bourne End Railway Bridge

|image=Bourne End Railway and Foot Bridge.JPG

|caption=Bourne End Railway Bridge showing cantilevered footbridge

|official_name=

|carries=Marlow Branch Line
Thames Path

|crosses=River Thames

|locale= Bourne End, Buckinghamshire

|maint=

|id=

|designer =

|design= Box girder and cantilever

|material = Iron

|spans =

|pierswater =

|mainspan=

|length=

|width=

|height={{convert|15|ft|6|in|m}}River Thames Alliance. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080124114502/http://www.visitthames.co.uk/text.asp?PageId=320 Bridge heights on the River Thames.]

|clearance=

|below=

|traffic=

|open= 1895

|closed=

|toll=

|map_cue=

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|coordinates= {{coord|51|34|30|N|0|42|51|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline, title}}

|lat=

|long=

}}

Bourne End Railway Bridge is a railway bridge carrying the Marlow Branch Line, and a footpath over the River Thames in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England. It crosses the Thames on the reach between Cookham Lock and Marlow Lock.

The bridge was originally constructed in wood by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as part of the Wycombe Railway, opened in 1854 and operated in broad gauge until 1870.{{cite book|title=Theirs were but human hearts|author=B.B. Wheals|year=1983|publisher=H.S. Publishing, Bucks|page=113}} The narrow spans were unpopular with river traffic and the bridge was reconstructed in steel in 1895. A footbridge, cantilevered out from the railway bridge was added in 1992, to take the Thames Path across the river;{{cite book | last = Cove-Smith | first = Chris | title = The River Thames Book | publisher = Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-85288-892-9 }} this substitutes for the historical towpath crossing point at Spade Oak ferry, about 1 km upstream of the bridge.{{Cite web|url=http://thames.me.uk/s00790.htm|title=Bourne End Rail & Foot Bridge - WHERE THAMES SMOOTH WATERS GLIDE}}

In 2013, the bridge was restored and repainted in green, and a large number of rivets which had rusted away were replaced. The restoration took nearly a year to complete, being finished in December.

{{cite web|title=Bourne End railway bridge work 'finished by winter'|date=13 Aug 2013|publisher=Maidenhead Advertiser|url=http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/News/Areas/Marlow-Bourne-End-Flackwell/Bourne-End-railway-bridge-work-finished-by-winter-12082013.htm|access-date=2014-01-10}}

There was a plan to electrify the line,

{{cite news|title=Electrification for Bourne End and Marlow rail|publisher=Bucks Free Press|date=21 Jan 2013|url=http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/10172193.Electrification_for_Bourne_End_and_Marlow_rail/|access-date=2014-01-10}}

but due to cost overruns during electrifying the GWR main line, this has apparently been postponed indefinitely.