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Alney Island

Islands of the River SevernLandforms of GloucestershireLocal Nature Reserves in GloucestershireRiver islands of EnglandUse British English from September 2017
Westgate, Gloucester
Railway viaduct, Alney Island, Gloucester geograph.org.uk 435076
Railway viaduct, Alney Island, Gloucester geograph.org.uk 435076

Alney Island is an island in the River Severn near Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. The Severn splits into two channels (known as East Channel and West Channel) at Upper Parting (the northernmost tip of Alney), and merges again at Lower Parting to the south. The island is a strip of land in between the two channels, about 2.1 miles (3.4 km) long and 0.74 miles (1.19 km) at its widest. It is a local Nature Reserve.Alney consists mostly of low-lying farmland, along with 3 residential streets, Westend Parade, Westend Terrace and Alney Terrace. Parts of the island are sometimes subject to flooding when the Severn rises. Castle Meads electrical substation on Alney was turned off when the island was flooded during the Summer 2007 United Kingdom floods. In February 2014, Royal Marines and Army personnel were deployed to Alney Island to respond to severe flooding.Telford's historic Over Bridge links Alney to Over across the West Channel, and is now pedestrian use only. The A40 and A417 trunk roads cross the West Channel on modern road bridges onto Alney before crossing the East Channel to join Gloucester at the end of Westgate Street. There are a number of Segregated Bicycle Paths around Alney. Alney is also crossed by the original South Wales Railway between Gloucester and Cardiff Central.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Alney Island (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.8775 ° E -2.2641666666667 °
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Address

A417
GL2 8ES , Maisemore
England, United Kingdom
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Railway viaduct, Alney Island, Gloucester geograph.org.uk 435076
Railway viaduct, Alney Island, Gloucester geograph.org.uk 435076
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Over Bridge
Over Bridge

Over Bridge, also known as Telford's Bridge, is a single span stone arch bridge spanning the canalised West Channel of the River Severn near Gloucester, England. It links Over to Alney Island. Although there was a crossing at Over recorded in the Domesday Book, this bridge was built by Thomas Telford between 1825 and 1828, to carry traffic east-west. It was opened in 1830 and remained in use for traffic until 1974. Until the Severn Bridge was built in the 1960s, this was the lowest point downstream that the Severn could be crossed by road bridge. The arch spans 150 ft (46 m), and was based on Jean-Rodolphe Perronet's 1774 design for a bridge over the River Seine at Neuilly. It combines both an elliptical profile over most of the soffit with a segmental profile at its faces. This feature is known as a corne de vache. When built, the arch sank by 2 in (5.1 cm) when its timber centering was removed, and another 8 in (20 cm) due to settlement of the arch foundations. Today it is a pedestrian-only bridge, and is in the guardianship of Historic England as a scheduled ancient monument. Road traffic on the A40 crosses the Severn on a new bridge alongside and upstream of it. This is the last road bridge over the Severn before the Severn Crossings, and was the most downstream free crossing until tolls were removed from the Severn Bridge and Second Severn Crossing in December 2018, although the Severn Bridge already had free access for pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds and, as previously stated, there is no vehicular access to Over Bridge. The bridge is connected by segregated bicycle paths around Alney Island, to Highnam and Gloucester. The Over Bridge can be seen from the train travelling from Gloucester on the way to Lydney or Chepstow on the Gloucester to Newport section of the former South Wales Railway.