Grosvenor Bridge (Chester)

Grosvenor Bridge
Oblique view of the Grosvenor Bridge, taken from the South bank of the river
Coordinates	53°11′1″N 2°53′47″W / 53.18361°N 2.89639°W / 53.18361; -2.89639
Crosses	River Dee
Locale	Chester
Heritage status	Grade I listed
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Height	50 feet (15 m)
Longest span	200 feet (61 m)

The Grosvenor Bridge is a single-span stone arch road bridge crossing the River Dee at Chester, England. Located on the A483 Grosvenor Road (grid reference SJ402655), it was designed by Thomas Harrison and opened by Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld on 17 October 1832. The first traffic passed over it in November 1833.

At the time of its construction, the bridge was the longest single-span arch bridge in the world, a title that it retained for 30 years. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

Views upriver include Chester Castle and Handbridge, the impressive mansions of Curzon Park and the adjacent Roodee. Water levels of the tidal Dee vary significantly during the day.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Chester only had one river crossing, a narrow medieval bridge at Handbridge, the Old Dee Bridge. Heavily congested, it delayed movement through the town. Building a new bridge was prohibitively expensive until Thomas Telford proposed a new road between Shrewsbury and the Irish ferries at Holyhead to facilitate trade between the two islands. The route would have bypassed Chester, greatly reducing the potential income from the lucrative Irish trade routes. A committee was appointed to consider plans for a new bridge to quicken movement across the city and encourage traders to continue to stop there.