Two cargo ships in one raise at the Kingsferry Lift Bridge, Kent

Date filmed: 15/10/2022
Video filmed at 15:37
This bridge crosses the River Swale.
Featuring: ‪@RileysTransportVideos‬
Location: Sheppey Way, near Sittingbourne
Useful information:
- www.myshiptracking.com/ports/... - For vessels that use the bridge and need it to raise
- ntslf.org/tides/tidepred?port... - For tide times (large vessels can only proceed through this bridge when the tide is above a certain level.
Vessels featured:
1) KARMEL (Malta): Schiedam Port (NL) ➡ Ridham Dock (GB)
2) CEMGULF (Antigua and Barbuda): Gijón Port (ES) ➡ Ridham Dock (GB)
Video guide:
Class 375 (Southeastern) heads from Sheerness-on-Sea to Sittingbourne - 0:00
Sequence begins - 0:43
Bridge starts to raise - 1:56
Bridge fully-raised & Clackson sounds - 3:54
Vessel 1 passes - 5:03
Vessel 2 passes - 7:23
Bridge begins to lower again - 9:03
Bridge lowered and gates open - 10:57
A video of the full raising sequence of the unique Kingsferry Bridge across the Swale, which connects mainland Kent with the Isle of Sheppey and opened in 1960. It was the only route onto/off of the Isle of Sheppey until the Sheppey Crossing (the large road bridge visible from here) was completed in 2006. This is a fairly unique lift bridge as the deck comprises of both the road and also a single-track railway line. The bridge deck is winched up two concrete structures in each of its four corners when a cargo ship is to pass to access Ridham Dock. There is also quite a unique set-up of the road traffic lights here too as there’s a combination of both LED normally-oriented wigwags, and two white-bordered vertical halogen-bulb type ones which resemble a traffic light albeit with the place where the ‘green’ module would be mounted having the second ‘red’ module. The LED wigwags / road traffic lights show up odd on camera due to the ‘Strobe effect’ where the shutter speed doesn’t match up with the alternating frequency of their electrical feed. A bell rings both when the gates to road traffic close and the bridge is about to be lowered again, and a loud claxon announces when the bridge deck reaches the top and is fully-raised.
This bridge only raises when cargo vessels need to navigate the Swale to access a port at Ridham Dock via a double-bend in the river, and vessels can only proceed to the docks when the tide is above a certain level, with those that miss this tide window mooring elsewhere until the next tide window comes and they can be guided through the River Swale and into the port by a tugboat. The bridge is operated from a small office in the concrete structure closest to mainland Kent, and will only be raised to allow approaching vessels through when there are no trains due to pass on the branch line in the time that’s needed to complete a raise. The railway line in question is the Sheerness Line, a branch line which runs from Sittingbourne on the Chatham Main Line to a terminus at Sheerness-on-Sea Railway Station. It's served half-hourly in the week, and hourly on the weekend.
In this video, two vessels used the bridge in the same raise. Both had missed their respective tide windows and the one that was due to arrive first waited for the second to catch up with it, and both cargo ships followed each other into Ridham Dock and past the bridge in the same raise.
Thanks for watching!

[@irelandbloke]

Superb video !

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you very much! 👍

[@among_usfan_oh_lol]

Nice!

[@among_usfan_oh_lol]

Numbers on the class 375 train: 375304 (same on the back of the train)

[@leeroberts1192]

There can't be that many examples of lifting bridges in the UK where both rail and road run over them

[@NWLevelCrossings]

Wow, that is amazing!😁👍🏻 Excellent Video and Lift Bridge!!👍🏻👍🏻

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you very much! 👍👍

[@vastjonea]

Excellent video!

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thanks! 👍👍

[@UKLevelCrossingAndBridges]

This is an interesting lift bridge the uk has, i like these type of lift bridges where instead of rotating, theres 4 big towers bringing the bridge up and down.

[@freebrickproductions]

Great video! Always love the classic white-bordered traffic light wigwags and bells there!

[@timstrainvideos142]

excellent video

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you!

[@almilhouse9059]

Thanks for posting that up, very interesting bridge..... Nothing like this in Ireland 🇮🇪 that I'm aware of. Pedestrian, vehicle and train 🚂🚂

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thanks for the nice comment! This is certainly a very unique bridge. The only others in this country that raise like this that I know of are around Manchester on the Manchester Shipping canal, but neither a railway line going over them.

[@railwayhonza]

This level bridge crossing is very interesting. Isn’t swale station not far?

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Swale station is literally just a very short walk up the road from here, and is where you'll find the best parking in the area.

[@RobloxTrainspotting]

You Got An 375/7 3 car there

[@DrpanProductions]

Most of your passenger and Freight trains run almost exclusively on electrified rails in the UK dont they? really makes me wonder how they complete the circuit when the bridge raises and lowers

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Interesting to think about it that way, but I personally don't know what they do here in terms of that.

[@NorthallertonTrainspotting]

Nice Video! I see there is a Vertical Light just like minffordd!

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you, indeed there are! There's one per side here.

[@RileysTransportVideos]

Nice!

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thanks! 👍😁