Windmill Bridge, Southall
A cast iron trough which carries the Grand Junction Canal over the Brentwood branch railway and road.
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Off Uxbridge Road, Southall, London UB1 3HW
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The construction of a branch line railway southward from the main Great Western Railway line at Southall to Brentford docks called for the crossing of the Grand Junction Canal at a point where it was already crossed by Windmill Bridge Lane. This was in 1859, the last year of Brunel's life. His solution was to make a cutting for the railway under the canal and to construct a cast iron trough to carry the canal. A new cast iron bridge carried the road over the canal at the same point.
This unusual triple bridge is still in use though singled. It is no longer a double track broad gauge line. It has been declared an Ancient Monument as an unusual structure and a late example of Brunel's imaginative approach to engineering problems.
By road: On A 4127, south off the Uxbridge road and east of Southall station.
By boat: On the Grand Junction Canal.
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