List of structures built by Thomas Brassey

Thomas Brassey (7 November 1805 – 8 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building a large portion of the world's railways in the 19th century. For some of these constructions he was the sole contractor but he usually worked in partnership with other contractors, particularly Peto and Betts.

Railways and associated structures Brassey arranged the building of over of railway tracks. By 1847 he had built one third of the railways in the United Kingdom and by the time of his death he had built one in twenty of the miles of railway in the world. He also built structures associated with railways - bridges, stations, etc. - and non-railway related structures. The following is an incomplete list of his projects. For the British railways the dates given are the date of the relevant Act of Parliament; for railways elsewhere and for other structures the date given is the date of the contract.

Railway lines

United Kingdom

1830s

RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresGrand Junction Railway (part) 1833London and Southampton Railway (part)1834Chester and Crewe Railway1837Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway (part)1837Sheffield and Manchester Railway1837

1840s RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresLancaster and Carlisle Railway1844Colchester and Ipswich Railway1844Chester and Holyhead Railway1844Ipswich and Bury Railway1845Kendal and Windermere Railway1845Trent Valley Railway1845Caledonian Railway (First contract)1845Clydesdale Junction Railway1845North Wales Mineral Extension Railway1845Scottish Midland Junction Railway1845Scottish Central Railway1845Haughley and Norwich Railway1845Shrewsbury and Chester Railway1846Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway1846North Staffordshire Railway1846Buckinghamshire Railway 1846Mineral Line (Wales)1846Great Northern Railway1846Royston and Hitchin Railway1846Shepreth Extension Railway1846Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway1846Denny Branches1846Birkenhead and Chester Junction Railway1847Leicester and Hitchin Railway1847Hooton and Parkgate Railway1847Richmond and Windsor Railway1847London and Southampton Railway Loop line1847Shrewsbury Extension Railway1847Blackwall Extension Railway1847Oswestry Branch Railway1848

1850s RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresNorth and South-Western Junction Railway1851Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway1851Harleston and Beccles Railway1851London, Tilbury and Southend Railway1852Warrington and Stockport Railway1853Bideford Extension1853Crystal Palace and West-end Railway1853Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway1853Portsmouth Direct Railway1853Worcester and Hereford Railway1853Severn Valley Railway1853Coalbrookdale Railway1853Woodford and Loughton Railway1853East Suffolk Railway1854Inverness and Nairn Railway1854Leominster and Kington Railway1854Salisbury and Yeovil Railway1854Stokes Bay Pier and Branch Railway1855Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway1856Leatherhead, Epsom and Wimbledon Railway1856Cannock Mineral Railway 1857Portpatrick Railway1857Knighton Railway1858Woofferton and Tenbury Railway1859Wenlock Railway1859Nuneaton and Hinckley Railway1859South Staffordshire Railway1861Llangollen Railway1859Ringwood and Christchurch Railway 1859West London Railway (Extension)1859Tendring Hundred Railway1859

1860s RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresAshchurch and Evesham Railway1862Epping and Ongar Railway1859South Leicester Railway1860Tenbury and Bewdley Railway1860Llangollen and Corwen Railway1860Cannock Chase Railway 1860Disley and Hayfield Railway1860Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway1863Wenlock and Craven Arms Railway1861Ludlow and Clee Hill Railway1861Dunmow Railway1864Enniskillen and Bundoran Railway1861Moreton Hampstead Railway1862Wellington and Market Drayton Railway1862Bala and Dolgelly Railway1862Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway1863Evesham and Redditch Railway1863Kensington and Richmond Railway (and Spurs)1864Silverdale Railway1864Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway1865East London Railway1865Hull and Doncaster Railway1864-9

Unknown dates RailwayLengthmileskilometresNorth Devon RailwayWoodbridge Extension RailwayKingston Extension RailwaySudbury, Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge RailwayChertsey Extension RailwayLondon and Bedford RailwayRuncorn Branch RailwaySirhowy RailwayArpley Branch Railway, WarringtonEbbw Vale RailwayHereford Loop RailwayLancashire and Yorkshire RailwayGlasgow, Barrhead and Neilson Railway

France 75 per cent of the total mileage, including: RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresParis and Rouen Railway1841Orléans and Bordeaux Railway 1842Rouen and Le Havre Railway1843Amiens and Boulogne Railway1844Rouen and Dieppe Railway 1847Mantes and Caen Railway1852Le Mans and Mezidon Railway1852Lyons and Avignon Railway1852Sambre and Meuse Railway1853Caen to Cherbourg1855Dieppe Railway (laying second road)1860

Elsewhere in Europe RailwayCountryDateLengthmileskilometresBarcelona and Mataró RailwaySpain1848Prato and Pistoja Railway Italy1850Norwegian RailwayNorway1851Dutch Rhenish RailwayNetherlands1852 Turin and Novara RailwayItaly 1853Royal Danish RailwayDenmark1853Central Italian RailwayItaly 1854Turin and Susa RailwayItaly 1854Elizabeth and Linz RailwayAustria1856Bilbao and Miranda RailwaySpain 1858Victor Emmanuel RailwayItaly 1859Ivrea RailwayItaly 1859Jutland RailwayDenmark 1860Maremma and Leghorn RailwayItaly 1860Meridionale RailwayItaly 1863North Schleswig RailwayDenmark 1863Lemberg and Czernowitz RailwayAustrian Empire (now Ukraine)1864Viersen and Venlo RailwayNow in Germany to Netherlands1864Warsaw and Terespol RailwayPoland1865Kronprinz Rudolph Railway Austrian Empire (now Austria, Slovenia)1867Czernowitz and Suczawa RailwayAustrian Empire (now Ukraine)1867Vorarlberg RailwayAustria 1870Suczawa and Jassy RailwayRomania1870

Canada RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresGrand Trunk Railway, Quebec to Toronto1854–1860

Argentina RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresCentral Argentine Railway1864La Boca and Barracas Railway1865

Australia RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresGreat Northern, Great Eastern and Great Southern Railways, New South Wales1859Queensland Railway1863

India RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresEastern Bengal Railway1858Delhi Railway 1864Chord Railway1865

Mauritius RailwayDateLengthmileskilometresMauritius Railway1862

Tunnels TunnelLine & CountryDateLengthShugborough TunnelTrent Valley Line, England1847Hausenstein TunnelBasel to Olten line, Switzerland1853Bellegarde TunnelFrance 1854

Stations Many hundreds, including: StationDateNotesTrent Valley Line Stations1847Chester1848had the longest platforms in the country at the time of its openingCaledonian Railway Stations and Maintenance1848Shrewsbury1848Salisbury1859Nantwich1858

Viaducts and other structures Many, including: StructureDateLinePenkridge Viaduct 1837Grand Junction RailwayMalaunay Viaduct1844Paris to Le Havre railwayMirville Viaduct1844Paris to Le Havre railwayBrantham Cutting, Manningtree1845Austreberth Bridge 1847Paris to Le Havre railwayCefn Mawr Viaduct1848Chester to Shrewsbury railwayChirk Viaduct1859Chester to Shrewsbury railwayWelwyn (or Digswell) Viaduct1850East Coast Main Line

Bridges Again a large number, including: StructureDateBury Saint Edmunds Station Bridge1846Richmond1848Barnes1849Coghines Bridge, Italy1855Victoria Bridge, Worcestershire1861Severn1861Stonework for the Runcorn bridge1868Kew1869

Non-railway projects

StructureDateNotesBromborough Road, Cheshire1834including Saughall Massie road bridgeGreenock Harbour1845Birkenhead Docks1850Victoria Docks, London1851over , with associated warehousingMinories Warehouses1857Ludlow Drainage1861Metropolitan Mid Level Sewer, London1861Rio Janeiro Drainage1862Barrow Docks1863Worm Drainage 1863Letton Drainage1864Dee Reclamation Works1865Calcutta Waterworks 1865Victoria Embankment, London1866Nepean Bridge1869Callao Docks, Peru1870

References