An Encyclopaedia of British Bridges

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Abbot’s Bridge, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

The wall enclosing the ancient abbey at Bury St Edmunds is carried over the River Lark by three ribbed and pointed stone arches probably dating from the thirteenth century. Touching this wall on the inside is Abbot’s Bridge carrying an internal abbey footpath. This Grade I bridge consists of three flat arches each with two ribs, the central span being segmental and the smaller outer spans slightly pointed. The outside of the abbey wall is braced by flying buttresses, which are based on extensions to the piers supporting the wall and the bridge, through the arches of which there may once have been a second public bridge of timber planks. ABMEE, BBPS, BiB

Abbot’s Bridge

Abercamlais Estate Bridges, Trallong, Powys

A bridge over the Upper Usk, built here in about 1588 as a packhorse bridge and widened on its upstream face about 100 years later, is now a private structure. It has three main segmental masonry arches, each spanning about 28ft between piers with pointed cutwaters, and a small additional flood arch at the north end built in the early 1900s. A little downstream is a very narrow (only 1½ft wide) 85ft-span suspension footbridge built by the iron master Crawshay Bailey in about 1830 to give access to a walled garden. Bailey built several bridges of this type over the Usk but all except this have been washed away in floods over the years. Also nearby, and standing on a single segmental stone arch across the Camlais stream that feeds into the river, is a tall octagonal eighteenth-century pigeon house, the lower part of which was formerly a privy. The arch spans about 5ft and the arch barrel is about 13ft long. ABWWE, BW, CEHWW, NTBB

Abercanaid (Brandy) Bridges, Abercanaid, Merthyr Tydfil

There has been a sequence of five bridges within a short distance of each other over the River Taff just south-east of the centre of Merthyr Tydfil. The first, built in about 1800, was an iron bridge serving the local ironworks. This was replaced in 1861 by a three-span wrought iron plate girder bridge with a main span about 80ft long. After closure of the ironworks in 1880, this remained as a footbridge until it was closed in 1959 and finally demolished in the late 1960s. Meanwhile, a new 12ft-wide metal girder road bridge was built a little upstream in 1883. This proved insufficiently robust and was rebuilt in 1933 as a concrete arch between the original abutments. In 1965 flood scouring caused the western abutment to collapse leaving the arch twisted and unusable. It was replaced in 1967 by a 32ft-wide structure, located a short distance downstream from its predecessor and consisting of precast concrete I-beams supported by piers of four rectangular columns. This bridge has four spans: two at 85ft-long over the river and the railway, with smaller flanking spans of 53ft and 75ft. BMT

Aberdulais Aqueduct and Canal Bridge, Aberdulais, Neath Port Talbot

The Aberdulais Aqueduct, built by William Kirkhouse in 1824 to carry the Tennant Canal over the River Neath, has ten low stone arches and is 340ft long. Nearby is the interesting and graceful skew overbridge, sometimes called Pont Gam after the Welsh for ‘crooked bridge’. This carries the towpath of the Neath Canal over the entrance to the Tennant Canal at Aberdulais Basin. It has massive stepped stonework on one side of the arch. BW

Aberdulais Aqueduct

Pont Gam

Aberfeldy Bridge, Aberfeldy, Perth & Kinross

This magnificent bridge was the penultimate of the forty bridges General Wade built to open up the Scottish Highlands after the 1715 Jacobite uprising. Spanning the River Tay between Aberfeldy and Rannoch, the bridge was built in 1733 to a design by William Adam. It has five nearly semicircular stone arches, the central one of which spans 62ft and dominates by virtue of its massive voussoirs and its high horizontal parapet decorated with four obelisks, one immediately above each end of the two main river piers. Outside these obelisks the parapet curves downwards in a quadrant before passing over the diminishing outer arches on a gentle slope. The two pairs of flanking side arches span 36ft and 30ft. ABTB, BB, BBPS, BoB, BPJ, CEHSL, NTBB

Aberfeldy Bridge

Aberfeldy Golf Club Bridge, Aberfeldy, Perth & Kinross

This 112m-long cable stay footbridge over the Tay is the world’s first bridge made completely from structural plastics. It is a three-span structure with a 63m central span and a 2m-wide deck. The deck, pylon and handrails are made from pultruded, cellular glass fibre, reinforced plastic, and the forty Parafil cables from sheathed Kevlar aramid fibres. Designed by Maunsell in association with Dundee University, it was opened in 1992. BE, BPJ, CEHSL, NCE

Aberfeldy Golf Club Bridge

Aberffraw Bridge, Aberffraw, Isle of Anglesey

Built in 1731 to replace a ford, the 10ft-wide hump-backed Pont Aberffraw has a single semicircular stone arch spanning 30ft. In 1931 a new nine-span reinforced concrete column and beam bridge was built to bypass the old structure. ABWWE, BB, BW, CEHW

Aberffraw Bridge

Abergeldie Castle Bridge, Balnacroft, Aberdeenshire *

A suspension bridge over the River Dee was built in 1885 by Blaikie Brothers for Queen Victoria’s guests at nearby Balmoral who slept here. It replaced an earlier bucket bridge. There were two vertically separated cables spanning 146ft on each side and the structure was notable for having no trusses to stiffen the deck and limit deflection. The bridge had been derelict for many years and was brought down by floods in December 2015. CEHSH, HB

Abermule Bridge, Abermule, Powys

An earlier bridge on this site was replaced by the present cast iron 110ft-span segmental arch structure. This is 21ft wide and has five ribs, the outer pair containing an inscription, the letters forming the web itself, which reads, ‘This second iron bridge in the county of Montgomery was erected in the year 1852’. The spandrels are filled by a series of single X-braces, the shape of these changing as the spandrel depth increases. The main road now bypasses this bridge. ABWWE, BB, CEHW, CEHWW, CoB

Abermule Bridge

Aberystwyth Pier, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion

Aberystwyth Pier was opened in 1865, damaged by storms the following year and not fully replaced for another seven years. Originally 800ft long, it was later reduced to its present length of about 300ft following more storm damage. BSP1, BSP2, CEHW, PoS, SP

Abingdon Bridge, Abingdon, Oxfordshire

The crossing over the Thames at Abingdon consists of two bridges, Abingdon Bridge itself near the town and, separated by the small Nag’s Head Island, Burford Bridge (Borough Ford Bridge), over what was then the main river channel. Both were built by the Fraternity of the Holy Cross, work beginning in 1416. When first built, the joint bridge had eleven narrow ribbed and pointed arches, but three extra flood arches known as the Maud Hales Bridge were built in 1437 at the southeastern end of Burford Bridge, and in the sixteenth century John Leland recorded the whole bridge as having fourteen spans. In 1790 the main river channel was diverted to run under the Abingdon Bridge part of the crossing, one arch being rebuilt to give headroom for navigation, and the whole roadway was widened at different times between 1800 and 1830 with segmental arch extensions on the upstream side. In 1927 the earlier navigation and three other arches were rebuilt to form a single 60ft-span new navigation arch. Abingdon Bridge is also memorable as being the subject of a 100-line poem written in 1458 by Richard Forman telling how the first bridge there was built and containing the line, ‘Another blissed besines is brigges to make’. ABSE, BB, BiB, BoB, BoT, BME, DB, JLI, MBO, NTBB, TB, TBDS, TC

Abingdon Bridge

Acklington Bridge, Acklington, Northumberland

This bridge over the River Coquet was built in 1865. It has three 40ft-span segmental stone arches standing on tall piers with rounded and domed cutwaters, and is 18ft wide. ABNE, RBN

Acklington Bridge

Acton Grange Viaduct, Higher Walton, Warrington

When the Manchester Ship Canal was built between 1887 and 1894, the London & North Western Railway had to be diverted onto a lengthy new viaduct in order to cross the canal above mast height. The viaduct crosses the canal on a skew bridge supported by five heavy girders spanning 263ft. CEHWW

Adam Bridge, Wigan

An earlier four-span timber railway bridge was built here in 1847 to carry the Liverpool & Bury Railway over the River Douglas. The present structure, completed in 1947, was the first bridge in Britain to be built using precast prestressed concrete beams for permanent railway works. There are eight such 24ft-long I-beams spanning between the piers from the earlier bridge. CEHN, RBC

Adlington Hall Bridges, Bollington, Cheshire

The brick Chinese Bridge over the River Dean, built in 1754 by Charles Legh, includes a wider octagonal central platform on which once stood a summerhouse in the form of a Chinese pagoda (shown in the corner of an old painting by Thomas Bardwell c.1760). This was one of the earliest Chinese bridges in the country but the superstructure was demolished later in the eighteenth century. The bridge itself still stands, although it now has no parapets. It is about 35ft long with a low segmental arch and is 13ft wide. Just north of it and built in the 1820s to replace an earlier structure is the Garden Bridge, which also has a low segmental brick arch but with stone parapets. It carries the west drive and is about 12ft wide between parapets.

Adur Ferry Bridge, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex

The first footbridge built here in 1921, called the Shoreham Footbridge, provided the lowest crossing over the River Adur. It consisted of six main 50ft-long reinforced concrete U-shaped beams on each side of a central 50ft-long steel span. This was an N-braced girder, which could be retracted northward along rails laid on the deck of the adjacent span to enable shipping to pass. This structure was replaced in 2013 by the new Adur Ferry Bridge, which was built by Sustrans to improve the local network of cycle and pedestrian routes. It has a 50m-long central rotating section with an 8m-high mast supporting a single 273mm diameter stay on each side. The three approach spans from each bank stand on T-shaped piers. Overall, the bridge is 214m long and 4-6m wide.

Old Shoreham Footbridge (1921–2013)

Albert Bridge, Chelsea, Greater London

Albert Bridge was built to provide another toll crossing over the River Thames in the half-mile reach between Chelsea (qv) and Battersea Bridges (qv). The design, to a patented concept by Rowland Mason Ordish, was for a bridge that was essentially a rod-stayed balanced cantilever structure, with each half span supported by sixteen straight bars radiating from the tops of the towers. Two wire suspension cables, each made up of 1,000 parallel wires, provided intermediate support to the rod stays. These wires were placed in position individually, then clipped together at 7ft intervals to form the cables. Each pier consists of two cast iron perforated Gothic towers founded on 21ft diameter cast iron cylinders sunk into the river bed. The main span between the cable supports at the tops of the towers is 400ft long and the side spans are 155ft long. The bridge was opened in 1873 and strengthened in 1885–1887 by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, who replaced the original secondary wire suspension cables with steel eyebar chains, the individual links being between 20ft and 24ft long. This reconstructionmade the bridge more of a hybrid between a stayed cantilever and a suspension bridge. The general lightness of the structure led to weight limits being introduced and in 1973 further reconstruction resulted in two additional cylindrical supports being constructed in the river to prop the deck at its mid-span. BA, BB, BBL, BE, BEVA, BFB, BG, BoB, BoT, CEHL, CLR, CR, CRT, DoB, LBC, LBCRR, LBM, NTBB, TBDS, TC

Albert Bridge, Datchet, Windsor & Maidenhead

The first bridge over the Thames here, together with its twin, the first Victoria Bridge (qv), was opened in 1851 to replace the neighbouring Datchet Bridge (qv). Designed by Thomas Page, probably with input from Prince Albert, it had a main four-centred Tudor arch with five cast iron ribs that spanned 120ft between masonry abutments. This arch was flanked on each side by a smaller pointed masonry arch. There were also three further pointed flood arches. In 1928, following discovery of cracks in the cast iron, the three main spans were replaced by two stone-clad, reinforced concrete, semi-elliptical arches spanning 75ft and 110ft. The Thames Path crosses the river by this bridge. BB, BoT, TB, TBDS, TC

Albert Bridge

Albert Edward Bridge, Ironbridge, Wrekin

This large cast iron railway bridge was designed by Sir John Fowler and built in 1863. Similar to the Victoria Bridge at Arley (qv), although carrying two tracks rather than one, it has four segmental arch ribs, each made of nine sections, spanning 200ft. Cast iron columns in the spandrels support the deck, which was rebuilt in 1933. The heritage Telford Steam Railway is planning to operate services over the bridge. BA, BEVA, CEHWW, CoB, HBS

Albert Edward Bridge

Aldwark Toll Bridge, Aldwark, North Yorkshire

Aldwark Bridge, one of the very few privately-owned toll bridges in the country, crosses the River Ure just one mile above its junction with the Ouse and saves a twenty-five-mile journey. Traffic over the bridge typically averages 1,200 crossings a day. Built as an arched brick structure in the early 1770s to replace a ferry, it was destroyed by floods in 1880 and rebuilt as a lattice girder with a 12ft-wide hardwood deck. There are four main spans, each about 48ft long, supported on either side of the bridge by short circular iron columns standing on tall clusteredcolumn iron piers. The brick abutments are backed by a large segmental brick arch and further semicircular flood arches on each bank. There is local pressure for the bridge to be taken over by central or local government and the toll abolished.

Aldwark Toll Bridge

Alexandra Bridge, City, Greater London

See Cannon Street Railway Bridge, City, Greater London

Alexandra Road Footbridge, St Austell, Cornwall

This replacement footbridge over the Paddington to Penzance main line railway was built in 2007 from a lightweight type of plastic called fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP). Designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff, it is a three-span beam structure with a central 14m section weighing only five tonnes flanked by 6m side spans. It has a U-shaped cross-section of pultruded elements forming the multi-cellular floor and walls and is clad with moulded panels.

Allerford New Bridge, Allerford, Somerset

‘New’ about four hundred years ago, this bridge was the subject of an enquiry into its condition in 1647. It has a pointed 18ft-long stone arch spanning between unusual high abutments with side buttresses on the upstream face. Each abutment also contains a raised 4ft-span flood-relief half-arch. In 1866 the downstream face was rebuilt to widen the bridge from 12½ft to 18½ft. ABSE, BiB, CEHS

Allerford Packhorse Bridge, Allerford, Somerset

This two-span segmentally-arched stone bridge, which stands on short piers and is 4ft wide between low parapets, probably dates from the late fifteenth century. ABSE, BBPS, BoB, FFB, PBE

Allington Castle Moat Bridge, Allington, Kent

Some of this castle dates from the twelfth century, but the small, slightly pointed, stilted stone arch bridge crossing the moat to the battlemented gatehouse is part of early-twentieth-century restoration work. The castle, with its bridge, is listed Grade I and is privately owned.

Almond Valley Viaduct, Newbridge, City of Edinburgh

This magnificent Grade A stone structure, built in 1842, was one of the first major railway structures in Scotland and, with an overall length between abutments of about 2,100ft, remains Scotland’s longest arched viaduct. It was designed by the engineer John Miller for the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway. The viaduct is curved in plan and has thirty-six segmental arches, each spanning 50ft, supported on banded piers. BHRB, CEHSL, RHB

Almondsbury Interchange, Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire

Britain’s first four-level interchange, with an overall height of 63ft, was completed in 1966 to connect the M4 and M5 motorways. It is symmetrical in plan covering an area of ¼ mile square and its three sets of bridges are steel plate girders with welded studs on the top flange to create composite structures with the reinforced concrete decks. MBB

Alness Viaduct, Alness, Highland

The unusual and attractive stone Alness Viaduct was built to carry the Inverness & Ross-shire Railway at an angle over the River Averon (also known as the Alness River). Although it is essentially a two-span structure, the designer Joseph Mitchell dealt with the consequent aesthetic issue (see the aesthetics of bridges entry in the Miscellany section) by having an eye-catching centrepiece between the spans. This consists of a large common pier, shared by the inner ends of the two shallow segmental 60ft-span skew river arches, which supports a tall semicircular archway topped by a carved crest. Further decoration includes, at each end of both main arches, small rectangular towers that are embellished with corbelled battlements and mock central arrow slits. A small flanking semicircular arch spans a pathway along the river bank. The viaduct was opened in 1862. BHRB, CEHSH, HB, SG

Alum Chine Suspension Bridge, Bournemouth

The 10ft-wide footbridge that crosses the narrow Alum Chine valley was built in 1904 and may have been intended originally for horse-drawn carriages. It now forms part of an easy clifftop walk. Two pairs of 1¾in diameter steel cables span 230ft between small steel lattice towers encased, below deck level, in concrete. Thirty-one hangers are clamped at equal intervals to each pair of cables to support a lattice girder parapet on each side of the bridge, these in turn supporting and stiffening the deck structure. CEHS, DDB

Amesbury Abbey Bridges, Amesbury, Wiltshire

Two interesting eighteenth-century bridges were built in the Duke of Queensberry’s private park at Amesbury. The Tea House Bridge, built in 1748, crosses a backwater of the River Avon. It has a semicircular stone arch barrel spanning 10ft, which splays out at each end into a segmental arch spanning about 15ft, an early use of this cornes-de-vache feature. The bridge supports a 28ft-square one-roomed pavilion of stone and dressed flints, approached from each bank by a double flight of steps and surrounded by a terrace with a Chinese-style timber balustrading. Sir William Chambers decorated the interior in 1772 in the Chinese style.

Amesbury Abbey Tea House Bridge

In 1776 John Smeaton built a separate bridge over the main stream as part of a carriage drive to the Tea House Bridge. This has three semi-elliptical stone arches, the central span being 18ft, and is surmounted by a classical open balustrade. Two ornamental square stone columns mark the entrance to the bridge at one end. ABTB, CEHS, PB

Amesbury Abbey Countess Bridge

Amesbury Bridge, Amesbury, Wiltshire

The stone bridge carrying the A345 over the River Avon at Amesbury, sometimes called Queensberry Bridge, was built by John Smeaton in 1775, the date being carved on the upstream parapet wall. It has three main segmental arches each spanning 15ft flanked at each end by a further, smaller arch, also segmental. There are small pointed cutwaters and the low parapets, which are level over the central three spans, slope gently down over the outside spans to the abutments. The bridge is only 18ft wide and the footway is now carried on a separate modern footbridge. ABSE, ABTB, CEHS

Amesbury Bridge

Ampleforth Monastery Footbridge, Ampleforth, North Yorkshire

Most church-sponsored bridge-building in England ended with the final dissolution of the medieval monasteries in 1540. However, the 1854 prohibition on the wearing of Catholic vestments in public encouraged the monks at Ampleforth Monastery (founded 1803) to build this footbridge over a public road to enable the monastic community to access their graveyard at Monks Wood without breaking the monastic enclosure. The 6ft-wide footbridge originally had a side span at each end, but the southern one has been demolished and the bridge can no longer be used. The pointed stone arch of the main span, which is about 28ft long, meets the face of the abutments about 10ft above road level. In the centre of the parapet above the archivolt ring was a carved shield within a quatrefoil, the parapet stepping down on either side. The bridge was restored in about 1930 but much of the parapet stonework is now missing or decayed.

Ampleforth Monastery Footbridge

Ancrum Bridges, Ancrum, Borders

The architect Alexander Stevens built the first bridge over the River Teviot at Ancrum in 1785. It has three flattish segmental stone arches spanning 51ft, 56ft and 51ft, the arch rings being distinguished by alternate voussoirs projecting forward under a bold archivolt ring. The solid parapet walls, which are supported on a narrow corbelled string course, continue round the sharply pointed piers above the pointed cutwaters. This Grade A bridge was bypassed in the 1930s by a reinforced concrete structure with a similar arrangement of segmental arch spans, the arch rings also being noticeably bold. ABTB, BPJ, RBGB

Ancrum Bridge

Angarrack Viaduct, Angarrack, Cornwall

Angarrack was the highest viaduct on the Truro to Penzance section of the West Cornwall Railway, opened in 1852. The first structure, designed by Brunel, was a sixteen-span, singletrack, yellow pine timber viaduct with a maximum height of 100ft. The piers, at 50ft centres, consisted of three-legged timber bents, the central leg vertical and the outside ones sloping inward, on top of each leg of which was seated a fan with one vertical strut and two others sloping outward along the line of the viaduct. The bases of these fans were linked with a horizontal tie beam that, in turn, supported a mid-span post. In 1865 the original timber bents were replaced by masonry piers, and twenty years later a new segmental arch stone viaduct with eleven spans of 57ft was completed alongside its timber predecessor. BCV, BHRB, BRBV, BTBV, CEHS, CVBH

Anstey Bridge, Anstey, Leicestershire

The date of this attractive 5½ft-wide packhorse bridge is uncertain, with expert opinions ranging from 1500 to late-seventeenth century. It has five nearly semicircular stone arches spanning the Rothley Brook, all the intermediate piers having cutwaters on both faces that extend up to form pedestrian refuges. ABMEE, BG, DB, PBE

Anstey Bridge

Apollo Pavilion, Peterlee, Durham

The pavilion is a one-ended, partly covered, four-span concrete terrace that bridges over a weir at the lower end of a small, man-made pond, and was built in 1970 to a design by the artist Victor Pasmore. Probably best described as being in the ‘brutalist’ style of architecture, it was unloved, neglected and vandalised until restored in 2009. NTBB

Apollo Pavilion

Appleford Railway Bridge, Appleford, Oxfordshire

The first bridge Brunel built on this site for his Great Western Railway was a temporary timber viaduct, completed in 1844, consisting of ten 30ft-long queen post trusses. This structure was replaced by parallel twin wrought iron plate girders in about 1850. These had five main 43ft river spans, flanked on each side by a 32ft approach span. In 1929 these were, in turn, replaced by a bridge consisting of three parallel steel bowstring lattice girders, which span 167ft, and five segmental brick approach arches. BoT, BTBV, TBDS, TC

Aray Bridge, Inveraray, Argyll & Bute

Robert Mylne designed this bridge to replace an earlier ford across the River Aray just to the south-east of Inveraray Castle, with its garden and estate bridges (qv). Built in 1776, the Aray Bridge has two fine 66ft-span segmental stone arches with a very large and distinctive circular tunnel running through it immediately above the wide central pier, and now carries the A83. It is listed Grade A. ABTB, BB, BoB, BPJ, CEHSH, HB, NTBB

Aray Bridge

Ardtornish Suspension Bridge, Claggan, Highland

This unusual bridge across Abhainn a Ghlinne Ghil was built by the local estate’s clerk of works Samuel Barham in 1892. A single wrought iron rod spans about 40ft between cast iron pipe pylons on each bank. Hanging from this are ten frames which support the timber deck and protective wires on each side of the walkway. CEHSH

Arkwright’s Aqueduct, Cromford, Derbyshire

This 75ft-long Grade I aqueduct was completed in 1821 to replace a timber aqueduct built in 1785 to bring water to power Sir Richard Arkwright’s ‘spinning jennies’ in his first cotton mill nearby. The squared trough structure was made from cast iron plates and had a 22ft-long main span between stone piers. Disused since 1845, the aqueduct was brought down when it was hit by a lorry in a road traffic accident in 2002. The mill with its aqueduct is part of the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage site. CEHE, CEHEM

Arkwright’s Aqueduct

Arlington Court Lake Bridge, Arlington, Devon*

Work on what would have been a rare suspension bridge in private parkland was started here in the late 1840s to a design by William Dredge. However, following the death of the owner, Sir John Chichester, the scheme was cancelled, leaving just the masonry piers standing 200ft apart on opposite sides of the lake at this National Trust property. The iron suspension chains, which had been manufactured by Dredge’s business partners C. D. Young & Co, were used instead on the slightly smaller Oich Suspension Bridge near Fort Augustus (qv), completed in 1850.

Armstrong Bridge, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne

This road bridge, built in 1878 to cross Jesmond Dene and the Ouseburn at a height of 65ft, now carries just cycle and pedestrian traffic. There are eight wrought iron lattice girder spans, each about 69ft long. Originally the girders were supported on wrought iron square box columns, but similar columns in steel have now replaced these. CEHN

Armstrong Bridge

Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium Bridges, Highbury, Greater London

The engineering firm Buro Happold designed two new bridges to provide pedestrian access from Drayton Park and Arsenal Underground stations to Arsenal’s spectacular new 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium, completed in 2006. The bridges, 15m and 22m wide, cross commuter and freight railway lines and are of tubular steel truss construction with steel and concrete composite decks. The larger 1,200 tonne, 105m-long southern bridge was fully assembled nearby and launched by sliding it into position over temporary supports.

Arten Gill Viaduct, Garsdale Head, Cumbria

Arten Gill, built in 1875, is one of the many viaducts on the Settle & Carlisle Line. It is similar to Ribblehead Viaduct (qv) but consists of eleven 38ft-span stone arches in three groups, of six, three and two spans, separated by king piers. BHRB, BRBV, RHB

Arten Gill Viaduct

Arun Rail Bridge, Ford, West Sussex

Built in 1846 by the Brighton & Chichester Railway to carry its single line track over the River Arun, this was probably the country’s first telescopic opening railway bridge. The timber structure had a section 144ft long which could be retracted onto one bank into the space vacated by the removal sideways of another 63ft-long section of track. A double-track replacement bridge with a 90ft-long wrought iron girder opening span was built in 1862. This pivoted lengthways like a seesaw to allow the retractable section to be withdrawn on top of the existing tracks. The whole structure was replaced by a fixed bridge in 1938. BRBV

Ashfield Road Viaduct, Burnley, Lancashire

Ashfield Road Viaduct, crossing a valley in the centre of Burnley, was completed in 1848 for the East Lancashire Railway. It consists of fifteen semicircular masonry arches, each spanning 60ft, that spring from a bold impost course on tall masonry piers. RHB

Ashford Carbonel Bridge, Ashford Carbonel, Shropshire

This attractive stone bridge designed by Telford was built in 1797 to carry a local road over the River Teme. Its single segmental arch spans 80ft and supports a narrow deck only 16ft wide. Parts of an earlier brick structure, which collapsed during construction in 1795, are incorporated into the abutments, and the finished bridge was partly rebuilt again in 1877. CEHWW, ICE

Ashford Carbonel Bridge

Ashiestiel Bridge, Caddonfoot, Borders

The handsome Grade A Ashiestiel Bridge carries a minor road across to the southern bank of the River Tweed near Caddonfoot, its single semi-elliptical arch spanning 132ft with a rise of 26ft. The bridge was rebuilt with internal longitudinal spandrel walls in 1848 after an earlier attempt with filled spandrels had collapsed as soon as the centring was removed. In plan it has an unusual taper, varying from 23ft wide at the ends to 15ft at the centre. The abutments are decorated with simple pilasters and the parapet walls are supported on a dentilled string course. BB, BoB, BPJ, CEHSL

Ashiestiel Bridge

Ashton Swing Bridge, City of Bristol

This interesting double-deck swing bridge was built over the River Avon New Cut jointly by Bristol City Council and the Great Western Railway in 1906. It had a double-track railway at the lower level and a road on the upper deck, and was last opened in the 1950s, but the railway no longer exists and the road was closed in 1965. The swinging span is 202ft long and consists of an N-girder on each side.

Ashton Viaduct, Dukinfield, Tameside

This nine-arch curved viaduct was built in 1845 to carry the Stalybridge branch of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Railway over the River Tame. As a result of uneven distribution of track ballast during construction, part of the central section collapsed into the river killing seventeen workmen. BHRB, BRBV

Atcham Bridges, Atcham, Shropshire

The first bridge over the River Severn at Atcham was built shortly after 1221 and a second, consisting of some eighteen arches, in 1550. John Gwynne designed the present beautiful structure, which is 18ft wide and has seven graduated semicircular stone arches with spans increasing from the banks to the central 40ft-span arch. This gives the bridge steep gradients up to a noticeable hump at the centre that is marked by a pedimented structure above the solid parapet wall. The bridge, which was opened in 1776 and bypassed in 1929, is now restricted to pedestrians only.

Atcham Old Bridge

The new 38ft-wide bridge is a reinforced concrete structure which crosses the river on a skew, this being achieved by each of the four arched ribs being offset from its predecessor. There are five spans with the central one being about 120ft long. ABTB, ABWWE, BA, BB, BEVA, BME, BoB, HBS, NTBB

Atcham New Bridge

Auchindrean Bridge, Auchindrean, Highland

The Grade A bridge across the River Broom at Auchindrean is a highly unusual lenticular iron truss structure, similar in concept to Brunel’s Saltash Bridge (qv). The support girders, one on each side of the bridge deck, have oppositely curved outer boom members meeting at a common point at the abutment bearings. Within the lens-shaped space between these booms are latticed truss vertical struts that continue down below the bottom boom as hangers to support the deck, and between these struts are diagonal bracings. The 9ft-wide bridge, which spans 102ft and was built in about 1865, was probably designed by John Fowler. BPJ, CEHSH, HB

Audley End House Bridges, Audley End, Essex

The approach from the west to the famous house at Audley End is by a stately bridge designed by Robert Adam and now carrying a public road. It crosses over the River Cam where this broadens out above a dam built by ‘Capability’ Brown. The 20ft-wide bridge has three segmental stone arches spanning 18ft, 24ft and 18ft with moulded archivolt rings, and is decorated with ornamental medallions on the spandrels and abutments showing the date 1764. The solid parapet, which is relieved with open balustraded sections above the arches, curves outwards above the abutments. A second bridge by Adam was built in the grounds below the dam in 1783.

Audley End road bridge

Audley End Teahouse Bridge

This, the Teahouse Bridge, is a Palladian-style summer house built on a single 14ft-span segmental arch. The front of the teahouse has an open colonnade of four pairs of Ionic columns supporting a simple classical entablature, while the back is a solid wall. Both bridges are listed Grade I. AB, ABMEE, BG, BoB, PB

Auldgirth Bridge, Auldgirth, Dumfries & Galloway

This elegant masonry Grade A bridge over the River Nith was built in 1782. Its three segmental stone arches, each with a single deep arch ring with archivolt, span 55ft. At the abutments and above each pier there is a wide pilaster decorated with twin flat columns that extends up to provide shallow refuges off the 26ft-wide roadway. BB, CEHSL

Auldgirth Bridge

Aultnaslanach Rail Bridge (Moy Viaduct), Moy, Highland

The Highland Railway opened its direct link between Aviemore and Inverness in 1898 and this unusual timber trestle railway bridge, now one of Britain’s few surviving timber railway bridges, was built to cross the Dalriach Burn. It has five 23ft-long spans, each of the four intermediate trestle piers consisting of four vertical timber members with two raking and bracing members at each end. The vertical members are also restrained between the trestles by low-level horizontal members, these in turn being braced back to the vertical units by corner diagonals. In 2001 a separate singletrack structure, consisting of steel beams and deck supported by concrete columns, was built within the existing bridge. The railway bridge is sometimes now known as Moy Viaduct. BPJ, CEHSH, HB, RHB, SG, TimB

Aultnaslanach Rail Bridge

Austin’s Bridge, Staverton, Devon

This bridge over the River Dart is only about 8ft wide and its use is made even more awkward by the approaches at both ends being at right angles to the bridge. An earlier structure may have dated from 1330 but most of the present bridge was largely rebuilt in the early nineteenth century. It now has five stone arches, the largest spanning about 28ft. ODB

Austin’s Bridge

Avington House Footbridge, Itchen Abbas, Hampshire

The three cast iron ribs supporting this broad footbridge form a three-centred arch supporting steps up from each bank that lead to a short section of slightly arched deck at mid-span. The ends of the delicate hooped parapets splay outwards to finish on slender twisted cast iron posts. BHHI

Avington House Footbridge

Avon Aqueduct, Linlithgow, West Lothian

The engineer Hugh Baird built this aqueduct in 1820 to carry the Edinburgh & Glasgow Union Canal 86ft over the River Avon. The 810ft-long Grade A structure has twelve 50ft-span semicircular masonry arches standing on tall piers, with the cast iron trough being supported on three internal longitudinal masonry walls. BPJ, CAB, CEHSL, IB, SBIW

Avon Aqueduct, Linlithgow

Avon Aqueduct, Warwick, Warwickshire

Built in 1800 to carry the Warwick & Napton Canal 30ft over the River Avon, this 16ft-wide aqueduct has three segmental stone arches, each spanning 43ft with a rise of 14ft. CEHE

Avon Viaduct, Linlithgow, West Lothian

The Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway built this handsome stone viaduct in 1842 to carry its tracks over the River Avon. It has twenty segmental arches with a further three semicircular arches at each end. It is now distinguished by the addition of thirteen radial braces in each spandrel. BHRB, RHB

Avon Viaduct, Rugby, Warwickshire

This viaduct, built in 1839 by Charles Vignoles and Thomas Woodhouse for the Rugby to Leicester line of the Midland Railway, was initially part of the main line between London and Yorkshire. The railway was closed in 1962 and the viaduct now carries a local footpath. It has eleven 50ft-span semi-elliptical brick arches. BHRB, RHB

Avoncliff Aqueduct, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire

This classically-styled three-arch stone aqueduct, built by Rennie in 1798, carries the Kennet & Avon Canal over the River Avon just three miles from its famous brother, the Dundas Aqueduct at Limpley Stoke (qv). The central span, which is a semielliptical arch spanning 60ft, sags slightly at midspan and is flanked on each side by a semicircular side arch spanning 34ft, each voussoir ring being decorated with an archivolt ring. The intermediate piers between the spans are decorated with semihexagonal pilasters that continue up through the corbelled cornice to parapet level to provide bays off the towpath. Behind the abutments, wing walls curve out gracefully and are capped by balustrades instead of the solid parapet walls above the arches. ABTB, CEHWW, K&AC, NTBB, SBIW

Avoncliff Aqueduct

Avonmouth Bridge, City of Bristol

Designed by Freeman Fox & Partners, the Avonmouth Bridge was built in 1974 to carry the M5 motorway over the River Avon. The 1,400m-long crossing consists of three sections: a main river crossing with a 174m central span and shorter backspans; and an approach viaduct on each side, consisting of ten spans to the north and seven to the south. The steel box girders on the approach viaducts are 6m wide by 3m deep with composite concrete deck slabs, whereas in the main section the haunched steel boxes reach 7.5m in depth at the piers and there is a steel orthotropic deck. A major widening and strengthening operation on the bridge was completed in 2001. NCE

Axe Bridge, Thorncombe, Dorset

This sixteenth-century bridge is only 10ft wide between parapets. It has three segmental stone arches over a paved invert, a central one of 9ft and – unusually – larger outer spans of 11ft. The northern pier has pointed cutwaters at both ends, whereas the southern pier has a cutwater only at its eastern end, with the arch ring springing off a small corbel. DDB

Axe Bridge

Axmouth Bridge, Seaton, Devon

There was a two-arch stone bridge over the River Axe here in the sixteenth century, the roadway of which was covered at high tides. The present 24ft-wide mass concrete structure, with its three segmental arch spans of 30ft, 50ft and 30ft, was one of the country’s first concrete bridges when it was built in 1877. The faces of the abutments and intermediate piers, which have been cast with strong horizontal inset lines in imitation of rusticated stonework, are set forward from the arches, which are similarly marked to represent voussoirs and radially-laid masonry in the spandrels. Settlement of one of the piers during construction resulted in a full-width crack across the central arch, and in 1956 a new deck was laid on steel joists spanning between the two river piers. The bridge was bypassed in 1990. CEHS, ConcB, ODB

Axmouth Bridge

Aylesford Bridge, Aylesford, Kent

The delightful Grade I bridge over the Medway at Aylseford has long been a favourite with artists. There was an earlier timber bridge here but the present structure probably dates from the late fourteenth century. The 13ft-wide old stone bridge was originally built with seven pointed arches each spanning about 13ft. In 1824 the two central arches were rebuilt as a single 60ft-span segmental arch to allow navigation for larger vessels. ABSE, BB, BiB, BoB, BG, CEHS, DB, FFB

Aylesford Bridge

Aylestone Bridge, Aylestone, Leicestershire

The long and narrow packhorse bridge crossing the River Soar in Leicester’s Riverside Park probably dates from the fifteenth century. Only 4ft wide and about 150ft long, it has eight main low stone arches spanning between massive cutwaters, two of these arches having been relined in brick at some time. ABMEE, BB, CEHEM, NTBB, PBE

Aylestone Bridge

Ayleswade Bridge, Salisbury, Wiltshire

See Harnham Bridge, Salisbury, Wiltshire

Ayr Bridges, Ayr, South Ayrshire

The thirteenth-century Auld Brig of Ayr has a 12ft-wide deck supported by four segmental stone arches, each spanning about 53ft between 15ft-thick piers with triangular cutwaters. Originally it was protected by an arched gateway, but this has long since disappeared. Like most medieval bridges it many times needed urgent repair, the worst occasion being when the north arch fell in 1732. Between 1907 and 1910 a major preservation project was completed on the bridge.

Earlier, to deal with the old bridge’s shortcomings, a New Bridge was designed by Robert Adam, completed in 1789 and widened in about 1844. This had five segmental stone arches and its parapet wall, which swept up to meet the pilasters at either end of the central arch, was pierced with balustraded sections. The bridge was completely rebuilt in about 1880.

Auld Brig of Ayr

In Robert Burns’s poem The Brigs of Ayr, written in 1786, at about the time work started on the new bridge, the Auld Brig correctly prophesied that it would still be standing when the ‘conceited gowk’ of the original New Bridge was but ‘a shapeless cairn’. ABTB, BB, BiB, BoB, BPJ, CEHSL, DoB, NTBB, Morris

Ayr New Bridge

Aysgarth Bridge, Aysgarth, North Yorkshire

This typical Yorkshire Dales stone bridge was first built in 1594 as a 9ft-wide packhorse bridge, spanning about 60ft over the River Ure. It was widened on its downstream side in an altogether more architectural style in 1788. ABNE, SYBBR

Aysgarth Bridge

B

Baddesley Clinton Moat Bridge, Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire

The moat around this National Trust property may date from the thirteenth century, although the oldest part of the existing buildings was probably not constructed until the fifteenth century. The original medieval drawbridge over the moat was replaced by the current two-span segmentally arched brick bridge in the early eighteenth century when the entrance range was rebuilt and the moat may also have been widened. The bridge is 7ft wide and the arches span 10ft. The bridge appeared in the television production of The Virgin Queen when Robert Dudley galloped over it as he returned home to see his wife Amy.

Baddesley Clinton Moat Bridge

Bagber Bridge, Bagber, Dorset

This cast iron beam bridge crosses the River Lydden near Sturminster Newton and was built in 1857. It was designed by W. Dawes and consists of four cast iron girders (23in deep with 7in-wide top flanges and 14½in-wide bottom flanges, cast by Coalbrookdale) spanning 33ft and now supporting a modern concrete deck. Beneath each girder are two 1½in-diameter wrought iron tie rods to reduce tensile stresses in the bottom flanges of the girders. CEHS, DBHG, DDB

Bagber Bridge

Bakewell Bridge, Bakewell, Derbyshire

The massive fifteenth-century Grade I bridge over the River Derwent near the centre of Bakewell has five pointed and ribbed stone arches. When the bridge was restored and widened to 24ft in the nineteenth century, the arch extensions were given four more ribs to match the five in the original structure. The triangular cutwaters at both ends of the piers continue up to provide pedestrian refuges. ABMEE, BBPS, BEVA, BiB, CEHEM, NTBB

Bakewell Bridge

Balder Viaduct, Cotherstone, Durham

The Tees Valley Railway built the nine-arch stone viaduct over the River Balder in 1868 as part of its line between Barnard Castle and Middleton-in-Teesdale. The line closed in 1964 and the viaduct now carries the Tees Railway Path. RHB

Ballachulish Bridge, Ballachulish, Highland

This bridge was built in 1975 to replace a well-known ferry service across the entrance to the sea loch Loch Leven off Loch Linnhe. It is a three-span continuous steel girder bridge with a main span of 600ft, the end spans being propped cantilevers extending shoreward from the two piers. It carries the A82 and the Caledonia Way. BPJ, CEHSH, HB

Ballachulish Bridge

Ballindalloch Viaduct, Balindalloch, Moray

The Strathspey Railway, under its engineer C. McFarlane, built this bridge over the River Spey in 1863. Its 195ft-long main span is made up of twin 17ft-deep lattice trusses on each side and there is a small plate girder approach span at each end. The railway closed in 1968 and the bridge now has a wooden deck carrying the Speyside Way. BHRB, CEHSH, HB, RHB

Ballochmyle Viaduct, Haugh, East Ayrshire

The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock & Ayr Railway built this superb masonry Grade A viaduct over the River Ayr in 1848 as part of the route linking Carlisle and Glasgow. Designed by John Miller, it has a semicircular central arch spanning 181ft flanked on each side by three 50ft-long semicircular side arches. This main span was the world’s largest stone railway arch for more than fifty years and, with its track 164ft above water level, the viaduct is also now Britain’s highest rail bridge. BA, BHRB, BRB, BRBV, CEHSL, NTBB

Ballochmyle Viaduct

Balmoral Bridge, Crathie, Aberdeenshire

Brunel designed this iron bridge for a new approach road to Balmoral Castle at the request of Prince Albert and it was opened in 1857. Exceptionally long (for the time) riveted plate girders, with diamond- and triangular-shaped openings along the web, support each side of the 13ft-wide deck and span 129ft across the River Dee. It seems that the functional appearance of the bridge was a disappointment to Queen Victoria who preferred the elaborate ornamentation that was typical of the age. BPJ, CEHSH, HB

Balmoral Bridge

Balmossie Viaduct, Baldovie, City of Dundee

This Grade A stone viaduct was built in 1870 by Forfar District Railway to carry its line between Dundee and Forfar over Dighty Burn. It has seven semicircular arches each spanning 50ft between battered piers with projecting corbels used to support the centring. It was closed in 1967 and is now used as a footway across the valley. BHRB

Banff Bridge, Banff, Aberdeenshire

This slightly hump-backed stone bridge, which carries the A98 over the River Deveron, was built in 1779. Designed by John Smeaton, it has seven 50ft-span segmental arches with decorative oculi in the spandrels. The original 18ft-wide deck was widened in 1881 when both faces were rebuilt on longer span arches. CEHSH

Bangor Bridge, Bangor-is-y-Coed, Wrexham

The bridge here over the River Dee was ‘betrayed’ during the Civil War and repaired in 1658. The present 10ft-wide Grade I structure has five segmental stone arches and semi-hexagonal cutwaters which rise to provide pedestrian refuges. The unusual parapets are made from vertical slabs of stone. ABWWE, BEVA, BW, CEHW, NTBB

Bangor Bridge

Bangor Pier, Bangor, Gwynedd

This 1,500ft-long pier was completed in 1896. The deck has intermediate wide points at 250ft intervals that contain kiosks and shelters. BSP1, BSP2, PoS, SP

Bank (Templand) Viaduct, Cumnock, East Ayrshire

With its tracks about 140ft above Lugar Water, this stone viaduct has fourteen semicircular arches spanning between tall tapered piers. The central nine arches each span 50ft and are separated from 30ft-span approach arches (three at the north and two at south) by two king piers with panelled pilasters on the pier ends. There is a deep roll cornice along the full length of the structure. The viaduct was built by John Miller in 1850 for the Glasgow & South Western Railway and is listed Grade A. BHRB, RHB

Bannockburn Bridge, Bannockburn, Stirling

Telford built this 24ft-span masonry bridge in 1819 and it now carries the A9 road 40ft above the burn. Its unusual appearance results from the strainer arch, its midpoint at about one third of the height of the tall abutments, which resists the pressure from the abutment fill. The principle is similar to that of the medieval ‘scissors’ arches under the crossing at Wells Cathedral. The bridge was later widened to 38ft. CEHSL

Barden Bridge, Appletreewick, North Yorkshire

The very attractive bridge over the River Wharfe at Barden was built in 1676 after the previous structure, probably dating from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, had been swept away in 1673. More recent flood damage has required extensive repairs in 1856 and 1955. The bridge has three segmental stone arches, the smaller outer spans producing a noticeably hump-backed profile. The large triangular cutwaters extend up to provide much-needed pedestrian refuges on a bridge that is only 10ft wide. The Dales Way passes the end of the bridge. ABNE, BB, BBPS, BiB, BoB, SYBBR

Barden Bridge

Bardney Lock Viaduct, Bardney, Lincolnshire

The bridge here over the Old River Witham was built by the Great Northern Railway in about 1870. Its three main river spans are a continuous steel plate girder standing on four large cylindrical piers with brick arch approaches. The railway closed around 1970 and the viaduct now carries the Water Trail Way.

Barford Bridge, Great Barford, Bedfordshire

The medieval north end of Barford Bridge over the River Great Ouse was built in 1429 with eight stone arches, most of which are pointed. In 1704 five additional flood arches were completed at the south end and one at the north end and, later in the eighteenth century, a further three arches were added to bring the total to seventeen. In 1818 the bridge was widened from 12ft to 16ft by laying timber beams between the cutwaters on its upstream face. In 1874 this timber work was replaced by pointed brick arches with four voussoir rings, the one on the intrados being laid honeycombed to produce a gap-toothed appearance. Curiously buttressed brick parapet walls were also added to both elevations, the one on the upstream face supporting, above a string course, triangular refuges that are larger than the very small triangular cutwaters below. The Ouse Valley Way now crosses the bridge. ABMEE, BBeds, BEVA, BME, CEHE, DB, BG

Barmouth Viaduct, Barmouth, Gwynedd

The coastal line between Aberystwyth and Porthmadog, built by the Cambrian Railways in 1867, crosses the Mawddach Estuary on this timber trestle viaduct with 113 spans of 18ft. The bridge carries a single railway track and a public footpath, the Mawddach Trail, as well as the National Cycle Route linking North and South Wales. At the north end, near Barmouth, there are two longer steel truss spans built in 1909, one of which is a centrally-pivoted swinging section 136ft long replacing an earlier drawbridge. This no longer opens for river traffic. The bridge is the longest in Wales and the longest timber bridge in Britain. BHRB, BRBV, BW, CEHW, CEHWW, FFB, TimB

Barmouth Viaduct

Barnard Castle Bridge, Barnard Castle, Durham

In 1112 Bernard Baliol built the eponymous castle overlooking the River Tees to defend this ancient crossing point. A bridge was built here in the thirteenth century and Leland recorded the bridge as having three arches when he saw it in about 1540, describing it as ‘excellent’. The present 15ft-wide Grade I stone bridge dates from 1596 and has two arches spanning between the abutments and a massive river pier, which is protected by triangular cutwaters continued up to parapet level. The upstream cutwater originally extended upward to form a tower, but this has long been demolished. The arches themselves are ribbed, slightly pointed and with triple arch rings. The original right-angled approach onto the bridge from the steep north bank of the river has been made slightly easier by the construction of three squinch arches to support the roadway across the corner. ABNE, BB, BCD, BiB, BME, BND, BoB, JLI

Barnard Castle Bridge

Barnes Park Footbridge, Sunderland

Two hundred years after Barnes Park had opened in 1809 a major regeneration project included a new footbridge across the lake to link footpaths. Designed by Chris Brammall, it is 30m long and 2m wide. The deck, which has finned side cladding made of Corten weathering steel, is curved in plan over six 5m-long spans which are supported on simple bents made of box steel sections.

Barnes Park Footbridge

Barnes Railway Bridge, Barnes, Greater London

In 1847 the London & South Western Railway received parliamentary approval to extend its line from Richmond to Windsor and also to build a loop line via Hounslow, Brentford and Chiswick back to its London line at Barnes. This involved crossing the Thames on Richmond Rail Bridge (qv) and again at Barnes. The bridge at Barnes, designed by Joseph Locke who had gained his early engineering training with George and Robert Stephenson, originally consisted of three 120ft-long cast iron arch spans supporting a twintrack railway and footbridge on the downstream side. It was opened in 1849. In 1895 it was rebuilt in wrought iron and widened by Edward Andrews. The piers and abutments were extended downstream and new wrought iron bowstring girders 16ft apart and spanning 129ft were erected to take two new tracks and the relocated 8ft-wide footway. The replacement wrought iron arch spans, although still in place, are no longer used. However, the combination of the below deck and through deck girders gives the bridge a distinctive and instantly recognisable appearance. The later structure now carries the Barnes:Chiswick Thames Walk and there are plans for the disused older part to be restored as a garden walkway. HRB, BoT, CEHL, CLR, CR, LBC, LBCRR, LBM, TBDS, TC

Barnstaple Bridge, Barnstaple, Devon

The medieval long bridge at Barnstaple over the River Taw was first built in around 1280 with sixteen pointed stone arches spanning between 18ft and 26ft. It has been partly destroyed on several occasions, including in 1437 and 1646, and some of the arches were also completely rebuilt in 1589 and 1782. It has been widened three times, first in 1796 by the construction against the original spandrels of segmental arches that spring from the cutwaters at the outer ends of the original piers. In 1834 it was further extended by the addition of 4ft-wide cantilevered footways but these were removed in 1963 when a new upstream extension was built. The Tarka Trail crosses the bridge, which is listed Grade I. BB, BiB, BME, BoB, CEHS, DB, ODB

Barnstaple Bridge

Barton Aqueduct, Barton upon Irwell, Salford

There have been two famous structures on this site.

James Brindley effectively began Britain’s Canal Age with the canal from the Duke of Bridgewater’s coalmines at Sankey to Manchester. This three-arch stone structure – the country’s first navigable aqueduct – was built in 1761 to carry the waterway over the Irwell valley, and the sight of vessels cruising 39ft above the ground amazed the people of the day. The centre arch spanned 57ft, the two side arches were each 32ft long, and the structure was 36ft wide.

In 1894, when the Manchester Ship Canal was built alongside the River Irwell, Brindley’s aqueduct had to be replaced by a new aqueduct that could be opened in some way to allow passage for large vessels travelling on the new waterway crossing beneath the old canal. The solution was to build a 235ft-long, 18ft-wide and 7ft-deep trough section of canal that could be sealed to retain its water, then rotated on a central axis until it lay parallel to the river and the new ship canal. This swinging trough section, weighing 1,600 tons complete with its water, is supported by two main N-truss steel girders that are 33ft deep in the centre. It was designed by Sir Edward Leader Williams. ABTB, BarB, BBPS, BEVA, BoB, CATA, CEHN, DB, DoB, NTBB, TTA

Barton Bridge, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire

The fourteenth-century Barton Bridge, also known as the Packhorse Bridge, is a short distance downstream from the better-known Town Bridge (qv) and was probably built to serve the nearby tithe barn. It has four pointed stone arches, each with a double ring of voussoirs in two orders but without ribs. The bridge is 11½ft wide and has cutwaters on its upstream face only. The sides of the deck are protected by railings. ABSE, CEHS

Barton Bridge

Barton High Level Bridge, Barton upon Irwell, Salford

This bridge was built in 1960 to carry the M60 motorway over the Manchester Ship Canal and is a similar structure to the slightly larger Thelwall Bridge (qv), ten miles away, built in 1963 for the M6 to cross the Ship Canal and River Mersey. The main part of the crossing for both bridges is a three-span continuous