included the addition of loop from the village of Barnes to Chiswick and Hounslow, which necessitated the construction of what would become known as Barnes Bridge over the River Thames. Prior to the building of this structure, Barnes, which was a small settlement at that time, had never featured a river crossing. The responsibility for designing this crossing was assigned to the noted civil engineer Joseph Locke, who also designed several other structures along the route, including the similar Richmond Railway Bridge. In order to achieve the required statutory height of the bridge above the high water mark of the Thames, as to prevent the structure impinging upon the passage of traditional river traffic, Locke determined that it would be necessary to embank the river. Furthermore, in order to accommodate the bridge's construction along the south side of the river, several properties within ‘’The Terrace’’, a street of modest Georgian houses, had to be demolished to provide sufficient clearance, as the structure and connecting lines pass directly through the estate. As designed by Locke, Barnes Bridge consisted of two pairs of cast iron arch spans, which had a length of 36.57 meters and a rise of 3.66 meters. Each arch was cast in four individual sections, while each span was strengthened via six cast iron arch ribs, which had a depth of 915mm. These spans were supported on brick piers, which were faced in Bramley Fall stone, and carried a deck composed of timber across the river. During 1846, Fox Henderson & Co were appointed as the contractor for building the structure; work on its construction commenced shortly thereafter. The completed bridge was officially opened on 22 August 1849. However, in the present day, while elements of Locke's incarnation of Barnes Bridge remain in situ, it is no longer in use for rail traffic, having been replaced by a newer structure built alongside. Widening and reconstruction Towards the end of the nineteenth century, several engineers and officials had come to question the viable lifespan and long term stability of cast iron structures, such as the original Barnes Bridge. These fears had been largely motivated by the collapse of a cast iron span along the Brighton Main Line during 1891. Amid these concerns, in July 1891, an Act of Parliament was approved for the replacement of Barnes Bridge by a structure principally composed of wrought iron. However, as a consequence of