Three Bridges

The crossing was built for the Great Western and Brentford Railway (GWBR, a subsidiary of the Great Western Railway, GWR), whose line ran from GWR's main line at Southall (nine miles—14.5 kilometres—west of Paddington station) to Brentford Dock on the River Thames. The railway crosses the Grand Junction Canal (which terminates at Brentford Dock) at the same point that the canal is crossed by Windmill Lane. The site was chosen to avoid Osterley Park, which was protected in the acts of parliament authorising both the canal and the railway, and St Bernard's Hospital. The structure was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, his last major engineering work before his death. The contractors were E.…

The road bridge is a cast-iron arch which replaced the original structure. Cast into the side plates are the name and address of the foundry: "Mattw T Shaw, 64 Cannon Street, City". Below the road bridge, at a right angle, the canal is carried over the railway in a cast-iron trough; the canal's towpath is cantilevered from the sides. The railway is in a cutting beneath both, which was built wide enough to carry a double-track broad gauge line. Various structural supports are in brick, including the retaining walls which support the cutting, the piers supporting the aqueduct, and wing walls, along with two strainer arches to support the retaining walls and relieve the load of the canal. The…