Transport Ministries: Bridges Engineering (BE Series) Files

This series consists of selected files of the BE registered file series of the Ministry of Transport's Bridges Engineering Division, its predecessors and successor, relating to bridge structure, maintenance, design standards, materials and abnormal indivisible loads.

Some files in the series were re-registered from the HE file series (otherwise in MT 95).

For files re-registered into the SASL series see

MT 186

• Department of the Environment, Bridges Engineering Division, 1970-1976
• Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, Highways Engineering Division, 1953-1959
• Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, Highways Engineering, Bridges Branch, 1956-1959
• Ministry of Transport, Bridges Engineering Division, 1964-1970
• Ministry of Transport, Highways Engineering Division, 1940-1941
• Ministry of Transport, Highways Engineering Division, 1946-1953
• Ministry of Transport, Highways Engineering, Bridges Branch, 1959-1964
• Ministry of War Transport, Highways Engineering Division, 1941-1946

from 2006 Department for Transport

from 1984 Department of Transport

Topics

Transport management

A bridges section has existed under various titles since the formation of the Ministry of Transport in 1919. A Bridges Branch was formed in 1956 as a result of the reorganisation of the Highways Engineering Division and in 1964, following a further reorganisation, the Bridges Engineering Division was created in its own right.

The Division was responsible for giving advice and formulating standards of design and specifications for materials for both the construction and maintenance of bridges. It examined bridge proposals, consulted with the Royal Fine Arts Commission and made recommendations for the appointment of, and agreements with, consulting engineers.

It also assessed the strengths of bridges and gave advice on the routing of abnormal loads, and Bridges Engineering Technical Approvals Division, which became responsible for the technical approval of structures on principal roads and non-delegated motorways and trunk roads and the authorised routing of abnormal loads, and Bridges Engineering Design Standards Division which, as its title implies, was responsible for design standards and specifications for all highway structures and for computer aid to design.