Photo-a-Day  (Thursday, 23rd January, 2025)

What a difference a day makes !
From the Beauty to the Beast.

It’s a bridge over a road, am I missing something????

WN6 this is "Adams" bridge which was built in 1946 and is grade 2 listed has one of the 1st pre-tensioned bridges in England. Means nothing to me but some engineers will love it. To me it is just a ugly piece of concrete

WN6..Exactly.

Yes Helen, What a difference a day makes, and another Yes WN6 you are missing something.
Now, since the Wigan council built us the Southgate section of the road, we Wiganers can ride or walk underneath this historical viaduct as we go, and the ASDA or further afield.
The history
This bridge was constructed as a test case, to see if prestressed concrete construction was feasible for rail projects in the UK, by the LMS railway company, and designed by their chief civil engineer William Kelly Wallace.[4][5] The beams used were prestressed using the Freyssinet system, in which concrete (maybe delivered by Westhoughton John) is precast with stressed high-tensile-strength metal tendons, which consist of multiple steel wires, running down the length of them. In construction, the beams internal rods are tightened and tied together so, under live load, they act as one. The LMS developed this system in the 1930s, and prestressed beams were first used for emergency repairs during World War II, but the Adam Viaduct first to use them for a full-scale project.[1] The benefits of the system were found to be that it was quicker to install, more economical and longer-lasting, and with the bridge being less lively than traditional designs.

The bridge has six I-beams for each track and two beams for each parapet, and they are 2 feet 8 inches (0.81 m) deep.[5] It was erected in 1946 on the foundations of an earlier Victorian bridge, created as part of the Liverpool & Bury Railway in 1847, which was made from timber with masonry abutments.[4] The earlier bridge was strengthened three times in: 1869, 1888

WN6 yes
bridge is the earliest type of post tensioned construction in the UK ,there only a few earlier ones in the world , I guess that it why it is a listed building

Thanks Mick, Wigan Council have made full use of this already made Adam bridge. Network rail should paint it and would look much nicer.

Could this be more boring ?????!

I think it’s the railway bridge over the end of Pottery Road near the Saddle Roundabout at ASDA.
The most confusing junction to navigate since Spaghetti Junction.

Not exactly John Sydney Crossley is it ! Modern 'architects' must have suffered psychological damage during the war . It's the only explanation for the soul destroying , mind numbing ugliness they put up in the 60's .

what a road best think wigan council ever did coming off chapel lane down past turners garage use to take 40 minutes at rush hour unlike the white elephant they built on scotsmans flash

Not 'just' a bridge over a road........Its the Adam Viaduct which is a grade II listed - The bridge, constructed in 1946, is the earliest 'post-tensioned' prestressed concrete railway bridge in the United Kingdom!!

It would help when putting up a picture if you said what, where or why.
Anyone who doesn’t know that area wouldn’t give two hoots, unless you where driving a car and on the wrong lane.

I never cease to appreciate how much Southgate has improved traffic flow, compared to Pottery Road, as it was.

Are there any photos of the old bridge?

Now Big Harold that’s more like it. Very interesting indeed but why didn’t Mysterious Mick say that in the first place.
My knowledge on the matter now knows no bounds.

I bet Google is red hot this morning.

Helen your man wearing the the White Cockade would have passed this way.

Scholes Malc, all this information is very educational which I was unaware of.
Having said that, I think it’s left me post-tensioned and prestressed!! :-)

I hate anything concrete but it serves its purpose in this instant. There must have been a shortage of money in 1946. Then again all bridges are built the same I suppose. No thought for blending in the landscape….it is as it is. They just become grottier and grottier.

Can anybody explain why it's called Southgate?

Dek, I have never heard that term before, that are before the road came through was always the Saddle Junction.
Speculating, it could be that it was at the southern end of Wallgate, making it the Gateway to Wigan as far back as Roman Times. Or more likely something far more mundane like the name of a garage!

Dex, I was just about to ask that same question but I was too slow, I was brought up on Wallgate and we had no Southgates then.

Whereabouts in Wallgate are you from.

Is it because the road is pointing southwards out of the town centre? The same way Standishgate points northwards from the centre of the town and Millgate is west ward from the town centre. Hallgate is eastwards from the centre ?Just a thought…I’m only guessing.

Interesting history and good to see the concrete has not been spoiled by graffiti artists.

Got my East and West mixed up…ooops!

Good Old Days

It was a good idea and shortened the time to get to the Saddle Junction. However, the footway on Ormskirk Road was widened to enable a shared cycle and footpath. This narrowed the carriageways stopping traffic flow when stuck behind e.g. stopped buses. The shared footpath is mostly used for parking, even though it's on double yellow lines.

Ticsmon
you could have pointed out that other than in London i tnot illegal to park on a footpath but it is an offence to park on a combined footpath/cycle track with a max fine of £1000 neither WMBC or the police enforce it probably for the very reason mentioned

What a difference between 2007/8 and now. Compare this photo to those in Album/Work/ Wigan Flood Alleviation Phase 1&2. Photo's
#31605,#31810 and #31672. taken by me when I was visiting the site as H&S adviser. Does the Douglas still flood around here?

The reason why I asked if anybody could explain why it's called Southgate is because it heads west from Wigan and emerges north-west onto Wallgate. It isn't even on the southernmost edge of Wigan. Perhaps the Roman road, which the A49 followed, might have entered Wigan there? It could be that the river now called the Douglas, was much wider in Roman times and that might have been the only crossing point or, which seems the best of wild guesses, somebody in the council might have had a brainwave and called it that for no apparent reason?

It is an offence to park on the pavement/verge by the side of yellow lines. Most Highways are roads or streets - footpaths, verges and public spaces can also be classified as Public Highway.

It's like wacky races driving down this road, drivers keep changing lanes to try and get in front of each other, dangerous practice, it annoys other drivers who stay in lanes.

Now there are 8 gates of Wigan
Hall
Wall
Bishops
Church
Mill
Stair
Standish
And now South

Bryn Gates Airfield
Wigan, England, UNITED KINGDOM

Don't forget 'Our Gate' at the front garden.

Bryn Gate , Lang Gate.

Alan don't forget also window view

Al, you mean Land Gate?