Somerleyton Bridge, Help And Advice Please.

[PaulM]

Hi all, I’m hoping to travel from Brundall to Waveney river Centre on Friday late afternoon. The tide will be well on the up by the time we arrive at Somerleyton Bridge (7pm ish) . We have an air draft of 9’4”ish so suspect this might be a bit much? With this in mind does anyone know if the bridge is reliably working currently and if a swing is required, how does a non VHF user request one?

thank you all in advance, have a boaty pic as payment 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

I`ve heard it said to wave a towel or something like it at the bridgemasters boothe. I may be wrong, but i`m sure others who know more will soon be able to help.

[Smoggy]

A good blast on the horn should do it.

[Jbx5]

Hi Paul we  will be doing the same journey on Friday, hopefully a couple of hours earlier.  The LED sign on the bridge usually says opening in so many minutes  if not as Mr Smoggy says let him know with a blast of the horn.

nice photo of entrance to Rockland ?

John

[Guest]

I believe this is still correct, Somerleyton Swing Bridge should open by request on VHF Ch12 or by giving 3 long blasts by horn when in sight of the bridge.

It will swing on demand when there is one red flag flying from the control box. If two red flags are flying the bridge is inoperable (must be too warm )

There may sometimes be a delay of up to 20 minutes to allow a train to pass. There are moorings or pontoons either side for those waiting for the bridge to open.

[PaulM]

11 minutes ago, Jbx5 said:

Hi Paul we  will be doing the same journey on Friday, hopefully a couple of hours earlier.  The LED sign on the bridge usually says opening in so many minutes  if not as Mr Smoggy says let him know with a blast of the horn.

nice photo of entrance to Rockland ?

John

Bingo John👍🏼

 

Thanks to everyone for those rapid replies! I wanted to be as sure as possible as I’ve got to pay up front for the weekends mooring. If worst happens I will be moored  up the wrong side of the bridge until low tide I guess. 

Would I get though ok at low tide?

 

 

[NorfolkNog]

I would say at 9' 4" you should be OK at low tide unless levels are unusually high. 

[Coryton]

57 minutes ago, Jayfire said:

It will swing on demand when there is one red flag flying from the control box. If two red flags are flying the bridge is inoperable (must be too warm )

This seems a bit of an odd scheme to me.

Red = go. But two reds = stop.

(Also, if one flag falls off, you've gone from stop to go, though I presume one does actually wait for the bridge to open before attempting to go through if too tall to go under).

 

[Bytheriver]

Nowadays they only use the flags to indicate an closure due to a fault or hot weather the LED signs give a fairly up to date indication the trains in each direction are fairly close so they usually keep closed till both have passed so always worth checking the Norwich to Lowestoft timetable.the delay on opening seems slightly longer since the signal box at Reedham Junction closed. Ultimately only the two swing bridge boxes will remain open with authority to open/close from Colchester. On Friday trains are due at 18.59 & 18.22 so you could get an opening between  but don't rely on it in case of late running.  

[PaulM]

Thank you. I would usually just chance it and at worst find the nearest moorings to spend the night. It was just the fact that I have to pre pay for the nights at the river centre so didn’t want to waste my hard earned. Also don’t want to get stuck the wrong side of the bridge Sunday if the opening was a bit sporadic.

from what people are saying it seems to be quite a reasonable assumption that I can get it swung 

[NorfolkNog]

Low water at Somerleyton will be approximately 3.30 on Friday afternoon so to go through at around 7 could be optimistic, it is quite a low bridge. You may get a swing. Do you have to be at WRC on Friday evening? If you can't get through you could moor at Somerleyton for the evening and visit the Dukes Head

Good luck and do let us know how you get on!

[chrisdobson45]

8 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

Low water at Somerleyton will be approximately 3.30 on Friday afternoon so to go through at around 7 could be optimistic, it is quite a low bridge. You may get a swing. Do you have to be at WRC on Friday evening? If you can't get through you could moor at Somerleyton for the evening and visit the Dukes Head

Good luck and do let us know how you get on!

There's the solution, turned a potential issue into an opportunity!!

[ranworthbreeze]

With the bridge being out of order many times during the last few years, we have had to wait for low water in order to pass under the bridge with our 9 foot 8 inch air draft (canopy and masthead down).

You can phone the bridge or use VHF or revert to the three long blasts of the horn. Many boats were caught out last season and their plans scuppered. 

Regards 

Alan