Baddesley Clinton Moat Bridge
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 beam, Barton High Level Bridge having a riveted plate girder structure with a central span of 310ft and side spans of 175ft. There were two fatal accidents during construction of this bridge. In February 1959 four men were killed when a scaffolding support tower collapsed and in January 1960 two men were killed when steel girders fell while being jacked into position. Until completion of the Thelwall Bridge, the main span was the country’s longest plate girder span. The bridge also has fifteen approach spans, ten on the north side and five on the south, which are mainly 115ft-long plate girders. BarB, MBB
Barton Aqueduct
As part of a project to improve transport links to the west of Manchester a new section of the A57 dual carriageway connecting Salford and Trafford was opened in 2017. This crosses over the Manchester Ship Canal next to the high-level M60 bridge but, being at a low level, the new structure has to have an opening span. Four reinforced concrete corner towers 31m high support a steel deck hung on cables. During construction in 2016, the 500-tonne lifting section fell but nobody was injured. The collapse was caused by the failure during testing of two of the four connections between the vertical suspension cable hangers and the span.
Built by Brunel in 1839 for his Great Western Railway, this bridge over the Thames has four semi-elliptical brick arch spans of 64ft. It was originally 30ft wide, but was widened by a further 26ft on the downstream side in 1892. BHRB, BoB, BoT, CEHL, TBDS, TC
Basildon Bridge by J. C. Bourne
The fifteenth-century Grade I bridge over the River Derwent at Baslow has three nearly semicircular stone arches, each with six narrow ribs, carrying a 12ft-wide road. The piers, which are unusually narrow for a bridge of this age, have sharp triangular cutwaters rising up to parapet level. There is a toll collector’s stone shelter at one end dating from the seventeenth century. The DVH Way now crosses the bridge. ABMEE, DB
Baslow Bridge
Claimed to be the oldest railway viaduct still in use, this was built originally in 1826 to carry the Rumney Railway tramway over the River Ebbw. It consists of four semicircular arches, each spanning 26ft between piers with pointed cutwaters, and was widened in 1863. BHRB
Bassaleg Viaduct
The Paris-based engineering and architectural consultancy Marc Mimram won a prize competition for the design of this pedestrian and cycle bridge, which will cross diagonally over the River Avon within the UNESCO World Heritage site. Due to open in 2019, the 60m-long and 4.5m-wide structure will have two spans with a central support on the north bank. Slender variable-depth Vierendeel trusses form the superstructure, with the undulating deck following the line of the truss lower chord over the river and of the upper chord over the river bank.
Brunel carried his Great Western Railway over the Avon at Bath on a skew bridge with two main arches, each spanning about 89ft, flanked by two small side spans behind the abutments. The main spans had six laminated timber ribs made up of five layers of 6-in thick timber, the thrust from the arch ends of the four inner ribs being taken by wrought iron tie bars. The deck was supported by timber spandrel trusses above the inner ribs, although the outside ribs had a cast iron Gothic arcade supporting the parapets. The bridge was opened in 1840 and the timber structure was not replaced by wrought iron until 1878, having been one of the longer-lasting arched laminated timber railway bridges. A further replacement steel lattice girder bridge now carries the railway. BHRB, BTBV, RHB
Bath Skew Railway Bridge by J. C. Bourne
There was a bridge here over the River Avon in the midseventeenth century, although the present toll bridge was probably built in the late nineteenth century. It has three main spans, each about 28ft long, with slightly smaller side spans at each end – three on the north and two on the south – all of which are pointed masonry arches. The parapets are pierced with trefoil openings. ABSE
There have been two bridges on this site. The original timber bridge was designed by Henry Holland and built by John Phillips, being completed in 1772. It was about 24ft wide and consisted of nineteen short spans ranging from 15ft to 32ft long. This was the bridge shown in some of James Whistler’s paintings which featured in his famous court action against John Ruskin. In 1875 four of the timber spans were replaced by two larger navigation spans supported by N-braced wrought iron girders. In 1883 the structure’s condition was such that vehicular traffic had to be prohibited and in 1886 the bridge was demolished to make way for a new crossing.
Designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the second Battersea Bridge has five segmental arch spans, each span consisting of seven cast iron ribs supporting the roadway, with a further rib under each parapet. The central arch has a clear span of 163ft and this is flanked on each side by spans of 140ft and 113ft. The bridge is 55ft wide. It was opened on 21 May 1890 by the Chairman of the London County Council, the 5th Earl of Rosebery, who became Liberal Prime Minister four years later. BBL, BE, BoT, CLR, CR, CRT, LBC, LBCRR, LBM, SR, TBDS, TC
This bridge was constructed for a consortium of four railway companies in order to provide a cross-river link between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction via West Brompton and Kensington Olympia. It was designed jointly by William Baker of the London & North Western Railways and T. H. Bertram of the Great Western to take both broad gauge and standard gauge tracks on a 30ft-wide deck. It consists of five segmentally-arched wrought iron river spans of 144ft, the spandrels being X-braced with an intermediate arched member. The masonry-faced brick piers are on concrete foundations that were built within cofferdams. Construction began in late 1861 and the bridge was opened only fifteen months later in 1863. BoT, BRBV, CLR, CR, CRT, LBC, LBCRR, LBM, TBDS, TC
A bridge on this site was recorded as early as 1327 and it and its timber successors continued in use until 1855 when a cast iron bridge spanning 98ft was completed. This was destroyed in 1871 when a heavy steam traction engine attempted to cross over. The replacement bridge, opened the following year, has two side arches in brick and a 48ft main span consisting of six segmental cast iron arches with intermediate jack arches of brick supporting the deck. This span is now heavily propped. CEHE
Battlesbridge Bridge
This handsome aqueduct, built by James Green in 1824 as part of a venture to provide a canal link between Torrington’s mills and the River Torridge, carried the canal over the river on five 31ft-span semicircular stone arches. The lower sections of the masonry piers have rounded D-ends up to a string course at arch springing level, above which tapering semicircular columns, set forward from the spandrel face, rise to small rectangular refuges in the parapet line. After the canal closed the aqueduct was converted to carry an access road to nearby Beam House. The aqueduct also has the distinction of being the Canal Bridge just upstream from the holt where Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter was born. A short distance downstream from the aqueduct is the bridge built in 1871 to carry the long-closed Bideford to Torrington railway. This, which is in a matching style to the aqueduct, now carries the Tarka Trail. BG, CEHS, JG
Beam Aqueduct
Beam railway bridge
Built in 1816 by William Whitmore, this aqueduct consists of a cast iron trough supported by cast iron beams to carry the Stratfordupon-Avon Canal over a small valley. The structure’s overall length of about 475ft makes it Britain’s second longest aqueduct after Pontcysyllte (qv). There are fourteen spans, each of about 34ft between intermediate brick piers, and the towpath is at the level of the canal bottom rather than at water level. CEHE, DB, IB, SBIW
Bearley (Edstone) Aqueduct
This packhorse bridge over Harden Beck was built in 1723. It has a single segmental stone arch spanning 33ft and is about 5ft wide, the edges being protected by wooden railings rather than stone parapets. ABNE, JBPT, PBE, YBBR
There have been two main bridges on the site of the original ford here over the Great Ouse since the Middle Ages. The medieval stone bridge probably dated from the thirteenth century and, according to tradition, was built using stone taken from Bedford Castle, demolished in 1224. It was 14ft wide and 330ft long overall, with seven ribbed arches. A bridge chapel was built in 1331 and rebuilt in the fifteenth century, later becoming the north gatehouse and town gaol. In 1673 John Bunyan was imprisoned here for six months and wrote the first part of Pilgrim’s Progress. There was a second gatehouse on the other side of the central arch but both were removed in 1765.
The present bridge, built by John Wing and opened in 1813, has five semi-elliptical stone arches: a central one of 44ft flanked on each side by spans of 38ft and 33ft. In 1938 concrete arches were built on the upstream side to widen the bridge from 30ft to 54ft, the stone facings and balustrade being reused. ABMEE, BB, BBeds, BME, BoB, CEHE, DB, FFB, NTBB
Bedford Town (Wing’s) Bridge
The railway tracks on the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway’s viaduct over the River Belah were 196ft above water level, only 4ft less than the record-breaking Crumlin Viaduct (qv). Designed by Thomas Bouch and opened in 1861, Belah Viaduct had sixteen wrought iron X-braced girder spans each 60ft long. These were supported by piers consisting of cast iron column sections butted together in 15ft-high lifts and connected together with horizontal members at each lift joint, every horizontal and vertical panel being fully cross-braced. The viaduct was built originally as a single-track structure, with a girder at each side, but was later widened by extending the piers to support a third girder. It was demolished in 1962. BOTB, BRB, BRBV, IB, RHB, TBh
The name Bellasis comes from the French and means ‘beautiful seat’. The 11ft-wide stone bridge here crosses the River Blyth with two arches, a high hump-backed segmental arch spanning about 40ft and, separated by a 14ft-wide pier, a smaller segmental arch of about 18ft span. The bridge probably dates from the seventeenth century. ABNE, BND, B’sB
Bellasis Bridge
George Stephenson built ten identical stone bridges to span the railway cutting that brought his North Midland Railway into the centre of Belper. BHRB, CEHE, CEHEM, RHB
William Baker designed this skew bridge to carry the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway across the Severn just outside Shrewsbury, and it was opened in 1849. The bridge has six cast iron segmental arch ribs spanning 102ft and is surmounted by a cast iron parapet. CEHWW, CoB, HBS, IB
This rare surviving example of an all-wrought iron viaduct was built in 1878 for the Great Northern Railway to carry its tracks 60ft above the Erewash Valley, but is now disused. The piers, each made up of ten tubes tied together with cross bracing, support four rows of 8ft-deep lattice girders in sixteen 77ft-long spans. The viaduct is being restored for use as a pathway. BHRB, BRBV, CEHE, IB
Bennerley Viaduct
This 13ft-wide bridge linking Great Bernera with the Isle of Lewis was the first prestressed concrete bridge in Scotland when it was built in 1953. It consists of three 108ft-long U-shaped beams, each of which was made by post-tensioning together eight precast concrete units. BPJ, CEHSH
The first aqueduct built in 1796 to carry the Montgomeryshire Canal over the valley of the River Rhiw collapsed soon after its completion. The two main segmental arches of the existing masonry structure are flanked by smaller and higher land arches and were built soon afterwards. This aqueduct was substantially rebuilt in 1889. BoW, CEHW, NTBB, SBIW
Berriew Aqueduct
This early reinforced concrete bridge, built in 1907 to a design by Mouchel & Partners, has a main span of 116ft flanked by 26ft-long side spans. The outer thirds of the three parabolic arched ribs support the 24ft-wide deck structure on five spandrel columns. When it was completed the bridge was Britain’s longest concrete arch structure. BB, CEHW, CEHWW
Berw Road Bridge
An early timber bridge at Berwick was swept away by floods in 1199 and floods destroyed replacement bridges in 1211, 1294 and 1607. The Scots under King David broke down another bridge in 1345 during an attack on the north of England. A later one collapsed in 1542 when Henry VIII, in fear of a pro-French Scotland allied to continental Catholic powers, launched a pre-emptive invasion. The present low bridge, built by James Burrell between 1611 and 1624, has fifteen segmental stone arches in two orders with spans varying from 75ft to 24ft and its width varies between 17ft and 19ft. These spans form a group of nine at the south end and six at the north, divided by a larger pier with bigger pedestrian refuges and a higher parapet that formerly marked the administrative border between the Borough of Berwick and the rest of England. Starlings surround all the piers, the ends of which are protected by triangular cutwaters that are cut back with pointed caps into buttresses that rise to form stretched semi-octagonal refuges at road level. To the north of the big pier, these pier-end buttresses are also decorated with attached circular columns. The apex of the bridge is at the centre of the second span from the north end and, as the line of the bridge slowly descends from here to the south, the horizontal string course below the parapet walls gradually steps down. Standing on the parapet wall near the north end of the bridge is a sundial. The bridge is listed Grade I and the Northumberland Coast Path now crosses it. AB, ABNE, BB, BBPS, BiB, BME, BND, BoB, B’sB, CBTT, CEHN, CEHSL, HBB, MBVA
Berwick Bridge
A rare finback structure (one with a cross section like an inverted T), this prestressed concrete railway bridge was built in 1968 as the top part of an unusual three-level crossing. It now carries the Manchester Metrolink light rail system at a high level over the point where the A665 Bury to Prestwich road itself crosses the M60. There are three spans of 135ft, 300ft and 100ft, the overall depth of the upstanding spine beam is 22ft and the deck is 43ft wide. The bridge has suffered degradation as a result of alkali:aggregate reaction. RBC
This South Eastern Railway bridge with eight spans, each 21ft long, originally consisted of cast iron trough girders spanning between brick piers. In 1865, as a result of inadequate protection during maintenance work when a section of track had been removed, an unexpected train fractured a girder after leaving the rails and five coaches from the train fell into the stream below, killing ten passengers. The accident is chiefly remembered now because one of the passengers was Charles Dickens who, though uninjured, was severely traumatised and died five years to the day later. DoD
There is a record of a bridge across the River Severn at Bewdley being built in 1447 and being destroyed by Lancastrian forces in 1459. A later bridge, which consisted of five stone arches, was partly swept away by floods in 1574 and was further damaged when the Royalists broke down one of the arches in 1644. A flood finally destroyed it in 1795. Its classically-styled replacement, completed by Telford in 1801, is 27ft wide and has three main segmental stone arches – a central 60ft span flanked by 52ft-long side spans – together with smaller flood relief arches behind the abutments. ABTB, ABWWE, BB, BBPS, BE, BEVA, BiB, BME, BoB, CEHWW, CoB, DB, TT
Bewdley Bridge
Jervoise concluded that, since Leland had not recorded seeing Bickleigh Bridge over the River Exe, it dates from after the middle of the sixteenth century. In 1614 it appears that it was little more than a packhorse bridge but was later widened on its upstream face to 14ft, possibly in 1809 following severe flood damage. It has five nearly semicircular stone arches, the central one spanning about 20ft, and has pointed cutwaters with pyramidal caps on both faces. There are X-shaped pattress plates on the faces of all the arches. JLI, NTBB, ODB
Bickleigh Bridge
The gardens here, now owned by the National Trust, were developed between 1842 and 1868 by James Bateman and include a Chinese garden with a brilliantly painted timber bridge, which was restored in 1991. A zigzag fence in the willow pattern Chinese style leads to the single span consisting of two inclined sections separated by a short horizontal section.
Biddulph Grange Chinese Bridge
Sir Theobald Grenville built the original timber bridge at Bideford over the River Torridge in 1315. The medieval stone bridge, which dates from the late fifteenth century, has twenty-four pointed stone arches spanning from 12ft to 25ft between pointed cutwaters. Over a period of about fifteen years from 1795 the bridge was widened by two feet on each side, work proceeding an arch or two at a time, until in 1810 James Green was commissioned to complete this work on the remainder of the bridge. The widening was effected by the construction of new segmental arches springing from the cutwaters at the outer ends of the original piers and built directly against the original spandrels. The bridge was widened again in 1867 when footways supported by wrought iron girders spanning between the cutwaters were added. These were removed in 1925 and wider footways were built on reinforced concrete beams cantilevered out from the top of the pier ends, the total width between parapets now being about 30ft. The two westernmost arches were rebuilt after collapsing in 1968. The South West Coast Path now crosses the bridge. BB, BBPS, BEVA, BiB, BME, BoB, CEHS, DB, FFB, JG, ODB, Duncan, Whiting
Bideford Bridge
Possibly dating from the fifteenth or sixteenth century, this 12ft-wide Grade I stone bridge over the River Avon has eight arches – pointed, semicircular and segmental – of 12ft to 17ft span. One arch is much higher than the others. The upstream ends of the piers have pointed cutwaters rising to parapet level. ABWWE, BBPS, BME, CEHE
Bidford Bridge
This small footbridge crosses the Biel Water stream running through the sandy Belhaven Bay just off the John Muir Way and, when the tide is in, it is completely surrounded by water – leading it to be nicknamed the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’. The structure is a simple lenticular truss with two truncated A-frames between the slightly curved steel deck beams and the tension rods. It spans between tall brick piers that incorporate steps up to deck level.
Biel Water Bridge
The Portpatrick & Wigtownshire Joint Railway completed its viaduct over the Big Water of Fleet in 1862. The stone viaduct has twenty segmental arches spanning 30ft and curves slightly at the east end. It is distinctive for the ugly-looking brickwork casing round the piers, added in 1924 after cracking had appeared, and for the old rail bracings added to the spandrels. The line was closed in 1965 and the bridge now carries National Cycle Route 7. BHRB, BPJ
There is a record dated 1302 of indulgences being granted to anyone contributing to the building or repair of the bridge at Biggleswade over the Great Ouse. This medieval bridge was replaced in about 1796 by a bridge with three segmental arches and this, in turn, was replaced in 1948 by a proprietary steel structure. ABMEE, BBeds
The 12ft-wide Bigsweir Bridge over the River Wye was completed in 1828 as part of a new toll road between Monmouth and Chepstow. The low rise segmental arch spans 164ft and consists of four cast iron ribs each made up of sixteen segments, the spandrels being filled with plain N-shaped bracings. Offa’s Dyke Path passes the end of the bridge. BRW, BW, CEHW, CEHWW
Bigsweir Bridge
The massive Grade A aqueduct over the B808 Bilsland Drive carries a short branch of the Forth & Clyde Canal into central Glasgow. Although the canal had been opened in 1790, this aqueduct was built in 1879 when a new road was required to pass beneath the canal. It has a single stone segmental arch carrying the water channel and, on its west face, a semicircular arch for the towpath. The abutments are decorated with broad pilasters.
The first bridge over the Bilston Burn, a six-span lattice girder, was built in 1872 to take the Penicuik Railway’s single-line branch to Polton. This was replaced in 1892 by an unusual structure consisting of a 330ft-long X-braced girder 42ft deep, which is flanked at each end by a single 60ft-long side span. The bridge now carries the Loanhead to Bilston footpath. BHRB, CEHSL, RHB
The proprietary Harper footbridge across the River Muick was built in 1880. Its 3½ft-wide deck is supported by galvanised wire suspension cables spanning 60ft between 8ft-high end pylons. These are tubular cast iron posts, each with two back stays, that at one end also act as gateposts. Harper
There was a timber bridge over the River Nidd on this site in the sixteenth century and probably a later stone packhorse bridge, although the present lovely stone bridge was built in 1822. It is 6½ft wide and has a high segmental arch spanning 64ft. BB, JBPT, NBBB, PBE, SYBBR
Birstwith Bridge
Edward I granted authority in 1275 for this stone bridge to be built, replacing an earlier timber structure over the River Wensum. It is 15ft wide, has three segmental arches with spans of from 15ft to 25ft, and originally there was a gate tower, later occupied by a hermit, although this was demolished in 1790. In 1549 the gates were locked in an attempt to keep out 16,000 rebels under Robert Kett who were protesting against the enclosure of common land. The position of this gate tower is now indicated by an unusual corbelled pedestrian refuge over one cutwater, which is also partly supported by squinch arches. The bridge’s spandrel facings are largely of flint. ABMEE, BB, BiB, BoB, CEHE, CEHEA, DB, DoB, NTBB
Bishop Bridge
The first of Brunel’s ten cast iron bridges, built in 1838, was rediscovered in 2004, encased within a later brick span over the Grand Union Canal’s branch to Paddington Basin, during a project to rebuild the whole Bishop’s Bridge complex. This work involved constructing a new four-lane viaduct to replace a string of narrow bridges crossing fourteen railway tracks as well as the canal. The project won the British Construction Industry’s Civil Engineering Award in 2006. Brunel’s bridge, which had vertically curved cast iron beams with bulbous flanges, is to be reinstated as a separate pedestrian walkway over the canal. NCE
The gatehouse, fortified wall and moat guarding the Bishop’s Palace at Wells were probably built around 1340 under a licence granted by King Edward III, and together amount to one of the most formidable episcopal defensive systems ever built in Britain. Access across the moat to the gatehouse was over a drawbridge supported by chains from narrow slits high up on the gatehouse. This drawbridge would have been a simple timber structure about 13ft wide and spanning about 20ft. It was last raised in 1831, on the occasion of the Bristol Riots in favour of parliamentary reform, but was replaced many years ago by a fixed bridge. BiB
Bishop’s Palace Bridge
Brunel built this viaduct in 1848 for the single-line extension of his broad gauge South Devon Railway between Totnes and Plymouth. It had thirteen 61ft-long spans consisting of three sets of struts radiating out from the intermediate stone piers. The viaduct’s overall length was 885ft and it had a maximum height of 97ft above the River Yealm. The structure was strengthened with timber parapet trusses when the original atmospheric propulsion system was replaced by conventional locomotives later in 1848, additional wrought iron girders being added in 1863, and the complete viaduct was replaced in 1893. BHRB, BRBV, BTBV
The deck of this 1999 cycle and footbridge, which crosses the dual carriageway A4 on a curve, is supported from a glued and laminated parabolic timber arch that is inclined from the vertical and spans about 34m across the road on a skew. The bridge, which was designed by Mark Lovell Design Engineers and sponsored by the Sustrans charity, now forms part of the Chippenham to Calne Railway Path. TimB
This bridge over the Thames was built in 1849 as part of the London & South Western Railway’s link from Windsor & Eton to Staines. Designed by Joseph Locke, it had four main 70ft-long spans. These each had six cast iron arched ribs, but in 1892 wrought iron plate girders replaced all but the outer ribs and their decorative parapets, which were removed in 1954. The Thames Path passes under the west end of the bridge. BoT, TBDS, TC
Mouth Bridge, which was on the edge of the Blackadder estate before this was broken up in the 1920s, may have been commissioned by the estate to replace an earlier ford. Now carrying a minor road across Blackadder Water, the bridge is a single segmental stone arch spanning 70ft. It was built in around 1795, possibly by Alexander Stevens or by Alexander Gilkie. The latter also designed a garden bridge for the estate, with two segmental stone arches and distinctive timber trelliswork railing. Another design for the estate (attributed to Richard Crichton) was for a medieval-style stone bridge over Gold Nick stream. This single-arched structure, which is decorated with semicircular towers, is now on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register. Crossing Blackadder Water a little to the east of Mouth Bridge is the fine Kelloe Bridge. This has three segmental arches spanning between piers with pointed cutwaters and a date stone for 1872 in the middle of the parapet.
Since the mid-eighteenth century there have been two road bridges over the Thames at Blackfriars. The first was the third bridge to be built in the capital after London (qv) and Westminster Bridges (qv). The bridge was designed by Robert Mylne, one of the last of the architect-engineers, and consisted of nine semi-elliptical stone arches – the first such arches to be built in Britain on a public bridge. In fact, the arches were three-centred, the middle and largest arch having a span of 100ft made up of a central circular segment of 56ft radius and two equal flanking segments of 35ft radius. The completed structure was very handsome. The ends of the intermediate piers were decorated with double Ionic columns supporting entablatures that were possibly intended to house ornamental sculptures. However, these were never occupied and served merely as elegant pedestrian refuges. There was a stone balustrade and the whole classical triumphal style was described at the time as Venetian Gothic. Construction began in 1760 and the bridge was opened on 19 November 1769.
Unfortunately, the bridge suffered from undermining of its piers and eventually the commission to design the second Blackfriars Bridge was given to Joseph Cubitt, who was then working on the adjacent railway bridge (qv). His bridge is a five-span structure, each span consisting of nine flat, segmental, wrought iron arched ribs supporting a deck 75ft wide. The spans are arranged in pairs, with two outside arches of 155ft, then two of 175ft and a central opening of 185ft. The foundations consist of large iron cylinders, sunk deep into the London clay and half filled with concrete, on which the granite-faced brick piers were built. Each end of these piers is decorated by a massive column of polished red granite more than 7ft in diameter and 11ft high. The columns, with ornately carved Corinthian capitals, in turn support large pulpit heads – stone bays with raised floor level providing vantage points up and down the river. Building work on the new bridge began in 1864 after a doubledeck temporary bridge had been built downstream, and it was opened by Queen Victoria on 6 November 1869. Between 1907 and 1909 the bridge was widened 30ft by removing the west face then re-erecting it after the insertion of three new steel arch ribs. The present width of 105ft makes it one of the country’s widest. ABTB, BB, BBL, BME, BoB, BoT, CEHL, CLR, CR, CRT, DB, DoB, HTB, LBC, LBCRR, LBM, NTBB, SR, TBDS, TC
Blackfriars Railway Bridge
The present bridge on this site was built in 1784, replacing a three-arch stone bridge built in 1589 that itself followed on from earlier timber bridges. Sir John Soane’s bridge has a single segmental stone arch spanning 45ft with cantilevered footways and cast iron balustrades. ABMEE, BiB, BoB, CEHE
Blackfriars Bridge, Norwich
Work on the first bridge on this site started in 1862 to extend the London, Chatham & Dover Railway through into the City and provide the first direct service to there from south of the river. Designed by Joseph Cubitt, who soon started work on the nearby road bridge (qv), the river bridge was 54ft wide, taking four railway tracks, and consisted of five wrought iron lattice girder spans of 933ft overall length. These five spans were arranged as two shore spans of 185ft, two intermediate spans of 175ft and a central span of 185ft. There were three piers on each pier line, these consisting of clusters of four iron columns mounted on 18ft-diameter cast iron cylinders sunk into the river bed. The ends of these piers are topped with ornate capitals and a giant cast iron heraldic device still crowns the south abutment. The bridge began its working life on 21 December 1864 serving a temporary station on the north bank of the river.
As traffic built up, new tracks over the river were needed and a second bridge was built. This was located immediately to the east of the first bridge to serve a new terminus station on the north bank of the river, with both bridge and station called St Paul’s. The new bridge was designed by the railway company’s engineer W. Mills with John Wolfe Barry. In order to accommodate crossovers between the seven additional rail tracks carried by the bridge, it was constructed with arched support ribs below deck level instead of with through-deck trusses as in the first bridge. It was opened in April 1886. In 1937 St Paul’s station was renamed Blackfriars, with the second bridge losing its name to become the eastern widening of its older brother Blackfriars. Operational changes in 1971 resulted in all the rail services being concentrated on the later bridge.
The superstructure of the first Blackfriars Railway Bridge was dismantled in 1984, but leaving the original clustered column piers standing in the river. As part of a later project to construct a twenty-first-century railway station over the river, the whole of the existing superstructure was rebuilt and extended westward on top of the eastern row of the original columns. The new station roof incorporates a large number of photovoltaic panels. BFB, BHRB, BoT, BRBV, CLR, CR, CRT, DoB, NCE, LBC, LBCRR, LBM, RHB, SR, TBDS, TC
Blackfriars Bridge
Telford designed this segmental arch stone bridge as an aqueduct for the Glasgow, Paisley & Ardrossan Canal in about 1810. It spans 89ft (a record-breaking aqueduct when it was built) with a rise of 19ft and in 1885 was widened and converted to carry the Glasgow Paisley & Greenock Railway. CEHSL, RHB
Blackhall Bridge
Three piers have been built at Blackpool, the oldest of which is the North Pier. Designed by Eugenius Birch, it opened in 1863 and is considered to be the finest architecturally. It is 28ft wide, 1,070ft long and consists of 60ft-span iron plate girders spanning between pier bents formed by clustered cast iron columns on screw piles. There have been many alterations and additions over the years, but much of the original intricate and decorative ironwork remains. Typifying the mishaps that have affected many piers over the years, it suffered damage from ships blown against it during storms in 1892 and 1897 and also when the pierhead buildings caught fire in 1921, 1938 and 1995.
In 1868 the 1,118ft-long Central Pier, then called the North Jetty, was opened. This structure was widened and lengthened to 1,410ft in 1877 and widened again to 45ft in 1897.
The South Pier, which was originally called the Victoria Pier, is 935ft long, 24ft wide and opened in 1893. It was one of the first of the seaside piers to incorporate steel deck beams. BSP1, BSP2, CEHN, FFP, LSP, PoS, SP
This bridge, designed by John Green, carried the Great North Road over the River Tees and has three semi-elliptical stone arches of 68ft, 78ft and 68ft span with cornes-de-vache splays at the arch haunches. It was opened in 1832 and widened in 1961. ABNE, BCD, BND, CEHN
Blackwell Bridge
A viaduct, claimed to be the world’s first railway viaduct, was built here in 1798 as part of a horse-drawn wagonway for bringing out coal from the local mine. It had ten high stone arches, under which cottages were built, was about 120ft long and over 30ft high and there was a roof over the trackway. When it was no longer needed the viaduct was completely buried.
The Blair Atholl Bridge over the River Tilt, sometimes called the Tilt Viaduct, has a single 150ft wrought iron lattice girder span and was built in 1863 for the Inverness & Perth Junction Railway. At each end there is an elaborate gatehouse structure in the grand ducal manner considered by the Duke of Atholl himself to be appropriate for a midnineteenth-century railway bridge on his land. These consist of machicolated and castellated stone towers on either side of the tracks with an overhead connecting segmental arch supporting a pierced screen. In the centre of the span the tops of the girders are linked by an attractive arched metal brace. Additional later steel braces, in the shape of inverted 7s, connect the top of each girder to the bridge deck. BHRB, BRBV, BPJ, HB, SG, RHB
The handsome bridge at Blandford was largely rebuilt by William Moulton in 1783, although parts of the medieval ribbed arches from the earlier narrow bridge can still be seen under the span at the town end. The bridge was rebuilt and widened again, this time on the east side, by William Bushrod in 1812. It consists of six segmental stone arches, the central pair being slightly larger with spans of about 21ft, all decorated with projecting keystones. The five piers have pointed cutwaters and the bridge parapet is unusually low. ABSE, DDB
Blandford Bridge
The reinforced concrete Blaydon Bridge, opened in 1990 as part of the Newcastle Western By-Pass, was designed by Bullens & Partners of Durham and built by Nuttalls. The bridge consists of a continuous spine beam under each carriageway and has a central river span and two further side spans on each side. CT, RTSS
The Grand Bridge, crossing the Glyme stream on the main axial approach to Blenheim, was built as part of Sir John Vanbrugh’s overall design for the palace, the nation’s gift to the conquering first Duke of Marlborough. Originally it was to be a triumphal bridge in the Palladian style, complete with a superstructure nearly 200ft long that included twin temples linked by a colonnaded loggia, containing thirty-three banqueting and other rooms in the abutments and pavilions, and decorated with enormous urns. The 36ft-wide roadway is carried on a segmental main arch spanning 101ft (equalling, with the sixteenth-century Newton Cap Bridge [qv] – the largest yet built in Britain) and smaller side arches. Construction of these arches was completed in 1711 but work was then suspended and not finally finished, in its present reduced but still massive form, until 1716. In 1774 ‘Capability’ Brown completed his landscaping of the park, which involved damming the marshy stream to create a lake. This raised the water level about 15ft, flooding some of the Grand Bridge’s abutment chambers and submerging the lower parts of the arches, but greatly improving the bridge’s appearance in the landscape.
Blenheim Palace Grand Bridge
As part of that landscaping work, Sir William Chambers designed a second bridge over the Glyme near Bladon. Built in 1773, Bladon Bridge has three segmental arches – a main span of 34ft and flanking spans of 26ft – and is 16ft wide with elegant balustrades. This bridge is listed Grade I.
Blenheim Palace Bladon Bridge
Between these two stately masonry bridges there are two early cast iron footbridges, one below and the other above the cascade from the dam crest. The older one below the cascade has five semicircular main spans, the central one spanning 9ft, and a smaller span at each end. The gently arched deck above is 5ft wide. The second bridge across the end of the lake, which carries a level footway 5ft wide, has seven semicircular 9ft-long arch spans and X-braced handrailing. BBPS, BE, BEVA, BG, BiB, BME, BoB, CEHL, DB, PB, SB
When the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway opened in 1838 it crossed the private east driveway to Blenkinsopp Hall on a temporary timber bridge. This was later replaced by the present ornamental bridge which consists of a segmental stone arch spanning 12ft, the parapet walls ending in low battlemented octagonal towers. BHRB
Blenkinsopp Hall Bridge
When the carpenter-architect Robert Lyminge built Blickling Hall in the period 1619–1627 for the lawyer Sir Henry Hobart, he designed two bridges to cross an earlier moat, now dry, one on the main southern entrance front and the other on the garden front to the east, although only the first of these survives. This bridge has two semicircular brick arches and elaborately pierced stone parapets with ornamental arrow loops although the parapets originally had even more complicated decoration. The approach to the bridge is flanked by carved stone piers, each carrying a huge carved bull supporting a heraldic shield. The property is now owned by the National Trust.
Robert Stephenson designed this handsome bridge to carry his London & Birmingham Railway over the Northampton to Oxford highway. The bridge is faced in stone but the arch barrel is in brickwork. The single semicircular arch spans 30ft between tall brick abutments supported by tapering buttresses. BHRB, CEHE, SC
Blisworth Railway Bridge
This medieval-style bridge over the River Ivel dates from the seventeenth century. It has five semicircular stone arches with spans between 6ft and 11ft. The parapets are brick. The Ivel Navigation dug a channel to bypass this bridge in 1823, and this is crossed by a locally-cast iron bridge. ABMEE, CEHE
Blunham Bridge
An early bridge here over the River Ryton was built in 1764 when the local landowner diverted the road, but the present elegant Grade I structure dates from 1770. Designed by John Carr, it has three semicircular arches separated by shallow pilasters. Outside the arch ring the masonry across the spandrels and pilasters is rusticated and the gently curved elevation is topped by an attractive balustrade. ABMEE
Blyth New Bridge
The architect Sir Jeffry Wyatville built the enclosed footbridge known as the Boathouse over an artificial inlet of the Half Mile Lake at Longleat in about 1807. The bridge, which is about 10ft wide, is in the style of a classical stone pavilion built over a segmental stone arch in front of a brick barrel vault that spans about 9ft. Centred over this arch is a large Venetian window flanked on each side by a rectangular window, all of which are above open balustrades. The back of the bridge is a blank wall, behind which is the boathouse itself. Large glazed doors close off the bridge at each end of the pavilion and small ornamental urns cap the corners of the roof coping. The house and the bridge are listed Grade I.
Boathouse Bridge, Longleat House
Although a Roman road crossed the River Rother here, the first record of a bridge near the romantic late-fourteenth-century Bodiam Castle is from 1313. There was also a bequest in 1408 for the repair of the bridge. The present 12ft-wide brick structure was built in 1796 and has three segmental arches with stone keystones, the central arch spanning about 20ft. The cutwaters rise right through the spandrels and are capped off just below the top of the parapet wall, this being supported on an attractive dentilled string course. The parapets are reconstructions, having been removed in 1940 to give a clear field of fire across the bridge deck from a nearby pillbox located slightly down from the moat surrounding the castle. ABSE, NTBB
Bodiam Bridge
This pier, built in 1865, was badly damaged by gales in 1965. When completed it was 1,000ft long and was later widened to 80ft for nearly one-third of its length. It is now much truncated. BSP1, BSP2, PoS, SP
One of the larger bridges in the New Forest crosses the Lymington River at Boldre and was probably built in 1758. It has five stone arches, with spans ranging from about 11ft at the ends to about 14ft in the centre, and stone parapet walls. Originally only 12ft wide, it was widened in 1927. ABSE, BHHI
Boldre Bridge
A single semicircular stone arch set high up on its abutments carries the Macclesfield Canal 60ft over a local road. NTBB
This curved stone viaduct, built by the Macclesfield, Bollington & Marple Railway, crosses the River Dean on twenty-three segmental arches with two intermediate king piers. The line was fully opened in 1871, closed in 1970 and the Middlewood Way over it was opened in 1985.
The present bridge is the third at this site. The first, by Telford, was built in 1812 to replace a ferry service where more than 100 people had drowned in an accident in 1809. It was one of Telford’s masterpieces and, it could be argued, was the first modern arch in the way it used the new material of cast iron. The bridge had a span of 150ft and consisted of four ribs, each cast in five 30ft-long sections. The spandrels were filled with elaborate cross-bracing forming lozenge-shaped openings. Telford used his design as the prototype for a series of seven further similar structures – including Craigellachie (qv) and Mythe Bridges (qv) – and this kind of spandrel bracing also became a feature on cast iron arch bridges by other engineers. Bonar Bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1892 and was replaced by a three-span steel girder bridge, which was itself replaced by the present structure in 1973. Designed by Crouch & Hogg, this is a slim and elegant steel bowstring arch which spans 340ft with a rise of 64ft. ABTB, BPJ, CEHSH, HB, ICE, NTBB, TTE
There had been timber bridges over the River Ure at Boroughbridge for two millennia, including one over which there was fighting during the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322. The battle was the final outcome in a civil war in which the Earl of Lancaster’s rebellion against King Edward II was defeated when the rebel forces were unable to storm the bridge. The first stone structure was probably not built until the fifteenth century. This was rebuilt in 1562 and its need for repairs was recorded many times over the years, including 1632, 1674, 1689, 1713 and 1739. It has three slightly pointed ribbed arches. In 1784 the bridge was widened on its upstream face, and rebuilt and further widened in 1949. ABNE, BBt, BME, SYBBR
Boroughbridge Bridge
‘Concrete Bob’ McAlpine built the curved Borrodale Viaduct at the same time as his better known Glenfinnan Viaduct (qv), and they were both opened in 1901 for the West Highland Railway. Borrodale has a single main arch spanning 127ft with a rise of 23ft, the thickness at the crown being 4½ft. This arch is flanked by two 20ft side spans in masonry-clad concrete. At its completion, the central arch was the longest concrete arch span in the world. It is Grade A listed. BHRB, BPJ, BRBV, CEHSH, DoB, HB, RHB
This M6 underbridge has double cantilever in-situ post-tensioned concrete pier heads above each of its two pier supports, with precast post-tensioned beams up to 104ft long forming the central and side spans. Each pier has two rows of four circular columns. CQ
There was a bridge over the River Witham at Boston in the thirteenth century and, typically for timber bridges, it needed much maintenance, various pontage grants being made in 1305, 1308, 1313, 1319, 1331 and 1358. In 1602 a new bridge was built that was protected by a stone gateway, and in 1742 another bridge, with two timber truss spans, was opened, replaced by a cast iron arch bridge in 1807. Designed by John Rennie and Thomas Wilson, this six-ribbed structure had a single segmental span of 86ft, a rise of 6ft and an overall width of 39ft, the deck being supported on vertical spandrel posts standing on the arch ribs. In 1913 a three-pinned steel arch bridge was erected between the existing abutments. The Macmillan Way uses the bridge to cross the river. ABMEE, ABTB, BB, BiB, BoB, IB, NPB, NTBB, TWCIB
Boston Bridge
The M4 motorway starts at Chiswick Flyover with a 2¼-mile viaduct section containing three large spans carrying the road over industrial buildings and Boston Manor Road. These spans consist of two asymmetric steel cantilever structures made of Warren girders standing on concrete piers. The shorter cantilever arms support a central section to provide a total main span of 365ft. Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners were the designers and the motorway opened in 1963. BwS, MBB
Bothwell Bridge over the River Clyde was built in about 1400. It now has four segmental ribbed stone arches all about 45ft long, a fifth arch at the south end having been replaced with a rebuilt abutment, and another arch, which appears to be of later construction, may replace one demolished in 1745 to hold back the Jacobites. The three remaining piers have large triangular cutwaters that taper off into the spandrels at about the level of the arch crowns. The original 20ft width of the bridge has been increased by the addition of 5ft-wide cantilevered footways. The bridge was also where the Battle of Bothwell Bridge was fought in 1679, when Royalists under the then loyal Duke of Monmouth successfully stormed the bridge’s central fortified gateway held by the Covenanters. The bridge is listed Grade A and the Clyde Walkway crosses the river by it. BB, BPJ, CEHSL
Bothwell Bridge
The road bridge over the River Wye at Boughrood was opened as a toll bridge in 1842. It has four main segmental stone arches; the intermediate piers having low rounded cutwaters and being decorated with shallow pilasters extending up to the top of the parapet wall. There is an additional small semicircular flood arch behind each abutment. ABWWE, BBrec, BRW
Boughrood Bridge
The Bournemouth town centre bypass includes this five-span prestressed concrete bridge built in 1970 over the upper pleasure gardens. To minimise the tunnel effect below, the two carriageways are carried on identical independent structures with a 5ft lightwell between them. Each half-bridge has four spans of 85ft and one of 65ft.
Bourne Avenue Bridge
This bridge was built in 1854 to carry the Wycombe Railway Company’s line from Maidenhead over the Thames. Designed by T. H. Bertram, it was a single-track timber structure with six spans of 42ft approached on both banks by further 32ft-span brick arches. It was rebuilt after fifteen years, and replaced in 1895 by a new 9ft-deep X-braced girder bridge with three 99ft spans. The two river piers are braced pairs of wrought iron cylinders. In 1993 a footbridge was built on the upstream side of the bridge, supported on joists cantilevered out from the deck of the rail bridge, and this carries the Thames Path across the river. BoT, BTBV, TBDS, TC
These two handsome brick viaducts were completed in 1885 for the London & South Western Railway. The eastern viaduct, now disused, led to Bournemouth West Station and the western viaduct carries the direct link between Bournemouth and Poole. The latter has ten spans, mostly 28ft wide, but includes two wider 33ft-span road crossings. These are built on the skew between larger piers decorated with brick pilasters and stone dressings. DDB
Bourne Valley Railway Viaducts
The main pier at Bournemouth, completed in 1880, was one of Eugenius Birch’s last designs and replaced an earlier timber jetty dating from 1861. It is now more than 1,000ft long with most of the substructure rebuilt in concrete in 1960. The six spans of the 35ft-wide pier neck are supported by in-situ concrete frames consisting of pairs of columns 10ft apart with balanced cantilevers each side. Precast concrete suspended beams spanning between the ends of these cantilevers provide clear openings of 75ft.
Bournemouth Pier
In 1888 a second pier at nearby Southbourne was completed. This 300ft-long structure was wrecked in 1900 and demolished in 1909.
Bournemouth’s third pier, at Boscombe, was built in 1889. This is 600ft long and it was also largely rebuilt in concrete in 1960. Its pierhead was again reconstructed in 2008. BSP1, BSP2, PHIW, PoS, FFP, SP
The stone bridge over the River Crake here was probably built in the eighteenth century. It has two segmental spans of 22ft and 12ft, these being separated by a pier with a pointed upstream cutwater, and was widened later. The structure was severely damaged by floods following one of the heaviest rainfalls ever recorded in England in November 2009 when much of the upstream side of the bridge was swept away. This was replaced by a patented structure in which precast concrete voussoirs, linked together with polymeric reinforcement and a covering screed, were craned into position without requiring independent centring. ABNE
Bouthray Bridge
This ancient stone bridge was probably built by the monks of the nearby Fors Abbey and may date back to the thirteenth century. It has a single semicircular arch, the original part having four ribs, but the bridge was doubled in width to about 18ft in 1785 by John Carr of York, the extended barrel being plain. ABNE, SYBBR
The fifteenth-century Grade I packhorse bridge over the River Brue at Bruton has a single slightly pointed nearly semicircular stone arch spanning about 30ft. This is topped by a pointed parapet containing a small carved shield on one face. The footway is about 3ft wide and carries the Macmillan Way. ABSE, DB, PBE
Bow Bridge, Bruton
This 8ft-wide fifteenth-century packhorse bridge has three semicircular stone arches. It is under the care of English Heritage. PBE
This early reinforced concrete bridge carries a minor road over the River Medway. Its nine 29ft-spans were built in 1915 to replace an earlier timber structure on the site. The intermediate piers consist of simple two-column bents, each with a single diagonal brace in alternating directions, supporting main edge beams about 18ft apart. The Medway Valley Walk crosses the bridge. CEHS
Bow Bridge, Wateringbury
Bow Brig, completed in 1635, was the first bridge to be built over the River Lossie, and its nearly semicircular stone arch spans 47ft. It was partly rebuilt in 1787. BiM, HB
This cast iron bridge, built in 1813, greatly enhances the park. It has three arch ribs, spanning 50ft between masonry abutments, and an unusual parapet railing. CEHN
The Great Central Railway built the viaduct over the River Ouse near Brackley in 1899. It had twenty semicircular brick arches of 34ft-span and, at the south end, a blind arch and two plate girder spans. The line closed in 1966 and the viaduct was later demolished to make way for the Brackley bypass. BRBV
This unusual-looking and dramatic footbridge spanning 20m over Keltie Water is, in fact, based on the simple triangular framework as used for roofs, with large timber ‘rafters’ connected at their bases by upward curving steel ties. The space between these members is trussed in timber, with six vertical posts and five diagonal braces in each half span. The bridge, which was designed by Strong Bridges, was completed in 2010.
Bracklinn Falls Footbridge
It replaced a metal bridge destroyed by floods in 2004 and an earlier bridge on the site, sketched by Turner in 1834, had a turf footway laid over the branches of trees which were supported on timber beams.
This skew bridge was built in 1905 by the Great Western & Great Central Joint Railway to carry its line north from High Wycombe over what is now the A4010. The blue brick structure achieves its skew by having five contiguous arch rings, each successive ring being offset longitudinally from its predecessor.
Bradenham Road Bridge
This post-tensioned reinforced concrete bridge was built between 1968 and 1970 as part of the Bournemouth town centre bypass. It crosses a small valley with two central 140ft spans flanked by two outer 100ft spans, the three intermediate supports being slender V-shaped concrete piers. The deck structure consists of a series of longitudinal hollow concrete boxes through which pass some 140 high tensile steel prestressing tendons. Braidley Road Bridge was the first bridge in the UK to be built with the internal tendons not encased in concrete, although the original cables themselves had to be replaced in 1978 because of corrosion, and the new ones were then concreted in. The bridge, which was designed by consulting engineers Gifford and built by Brims, won the 1972 Civic Trust award and a Mature Structures commendation in 1994. DDB
Braidley Road Bridge
See Abercanaid (Brandy) Bridges, Merthyr Tydfil
Sir John Rennie built this 55ft-span arch bridge over the River Ancholme in 1831. Originally the five cast iron ribs supported an iron plate deck. However, in 1988 four steel beams were inserted between these ribs to support a replacement reinforced concrete deck slab. CEHE, CEHEM
Brandy Wharf Bridge
At the Bratch locks on the narrow Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, the 7ft-span segmental-arch canal bridge by the octagonal tollhouse rises sheer from the lock sides. Monarch’s Way crosses the canal here.
The two 50ft-span footbridges at the Braunston junction between the Oxford and Grand Junction Canals were built as part of the new junction completed in 1834. Each has cast iron semi-elliptical arch edge ribs with elegant integral railings.
The path between the footbridges also passes over a semi-elliptical brick arch spanning 40ft. Both the Grand Union Canal and Oxford Canal Walks pass here. CEHE, CEHEM, NTBB, SC
The new private ‘castle’ here, built between 1993 and 2001 on an island in a small lake, is an authentic version of a moated and fortified medieval manor house and is complete with a working drawbridge for cars and pedestrians. This consists of a timber deck 8½ft wide supported by 10in x 6in oak beams that span 12ft across the moat in front of an arched gateway. The bridge is lifted by two 1½in chains running through small boat anchor winches, counterbalanced by 6in heavy marine chains, and is powered by a 1HP electric motor located in one of the small gateway towers.
Braylsham Castle Drawbridge
This steel lattice girder bridge was built in about 1900. It is in two separate 40ft-long sections, each spanning between an intermediate brick pier and one of the abutments, which are of brick with stone dressings. Both spans are split into five bays separated by decorative external scroll bracings. The bridge was strengthened in 1980 but, in 2002, much of this work was largely reconstructed. BHHI, NCE
Breamore Great Bridge
This pleasing brick bridge over an arm of the River Avon at Breamore has three segmental arches: a central one spanning 24ft flanked by side spans of 18ft. The narrow piers are fronted by small stone cutwaters and the brick parapets sit on a deep brick string course. The bridge was built in 1867. BHHI, ABSE
Breamore Mill Bridge
There was a long-standing ferry service over the River Wye at Bredwardine until this was replaced by the building in 1769 of the present bridge. It has six semicircular brick arches, each about 32ft long, spanning between tall brick piers with pointed cutwaters, two of these on each side of the bridge rising up to parapet level. In 1922 the bridge was almost completely rebuilt and Jervoise, writing in 1936, called it one of the finest brick bridges in England. The Wye Valley Walk crosses the river on this bridge. ABWWE, BB, BRW, CEHWW
Bredwardine Bridge
William Cubitt built this 13ft span bridge in 1813 at the beginning of his civil engineering career. The structure consists of seven cast iron semi-elliptical ribs that support between them a permanent arched formwork of timber planks on which the road fill, now mass concrete, was placed. CEHE, IB
The little late-eighteenth century brick and stone bridge in the middle of Bridge village has two low segmental arches. The arch barrels, spandrels and panelled parapet wall are in brick, but this is set off by the stone keystones, abutment pilasters and linking string course, and the parapet coping. The Elham Valley Way crosses the Nail Bourne on this bridge. ABSE, NTBB
The National Trust now uses this delightful little property as an information centre. It is a seventeenth-century two-storey garden house perched on top of a single segmental arch 9ft wide, once probably a packhorse bridge, that spans about 25ft across the Stock Ghyll stream. It is one of the few bridges left in the country that supports a building and is listed Grade I. ABNE, BiB, DB, WB
Bridge House, Ambleside
James Duff commissioned the building of this estate bridge over the River Deveron to a design by a local landscape gardener. The semicircular single arch was built in 1772 and incorporates a vaulted room within the west abutment, supposedly for Duff’s entertainment of local girls. The bridge is listed Grade A. BPJ, CEHSH
The original Bridge of Awe, now bypassed, was completed in 1779, the central of its three stone arches being swept away the year before while still supported by its centring. This arch, of 50ft span, is flanked by arches of about 46ft span. HB, BiB
The bridge over the River Dee at Aberdeen, originally only 15ft wide, was completed in 1527 together with a turreted gatehouse which was demolished when the bridge was largely rebuilt between 1718 and 1722. The bridge has seven nearly-semicircular stone arches, each with nine ribs, all spanning roughly 45ft. In 1842 it was widened on the western side to 26ft between parapets, with the original face taken down and rebuilt. Ancient coats of arms and inscriptions decorate the other side of the bridge. In 1639, during the battle here at the beginning of the Civil War, the Royalists defended the bridge until the attacking forces’ artillery brought down one of the gatehouse turrets, causing them to retreat. The bridge now carries the A90 into the city from the south. BB, BoB, BPJ, CEHSH, NTBB
Bridge of Dee
This bridge, completed in 1787, has three segmental stone arches spanning 50ft, 68ft and 50ft. The roughly triangular pedestrian refuges over the cutwaters are supported by three sets of clustered columns. ABTB, BPJ, CEHSH, NTBB
Bridge of Dun
Probably dating from the late seventeenth century, this 12ft-wide stone bridge over the Water of Dye has a single semicircular arch with four ribs spanning 43ft between large triangular cutwaters. BB, BoB, CEHSH, NTBB
Bridge of Dye
Given its nickname, it is perhaps appropriate that this should be the most remote bridge covered by this book. Lord Leverhulme, who owned the Isle of Lewis between 1918 and 1923, sponsored construction of a road link along its north-eastern coast to Ness, but the project ran into difficulties and the road beyond the bridge was never built. The reinforced concrete structure has three arched ribs with three spandrel posts supporting a deck with cantilevered side extensions and solid parapets. BPJ
Bridge to Nowhere
The first timber bridge over the Severn at Bridgnorth was built in about 1100 to replace a ford, and it is thought there was a bridge of stone arches by around 1300. This or a successor was recorded as having eight arches in 1478. There was also a bridge chapel dedicated to St Osyth that remained, after the Dissolution in 1536, until the early nineteenth century. Flood damage required rebuilding of some of the arches in 1670, 1741, 1770 and 1795. In about 1810 Telford completed further rebuilding, in which the number of bridge spans was reduced to six, leaving just three ancient stone arches of which the partially ribbed one at the west end of the bridge may have been in the original structure, and the width was increased to about 22ft. In 1960 the bridge was widened again with prestressed concrete beams spanning between the pier cutwaters. The Severn Way passes the west end of the bridge. ABWWE, BME, CoB, FFB, HBS
In 1871 Francis Fox designed the unusual three-span telescopic wrought iron plate girder bridge for the Bristol & Exeter Railway to connect the docks on each bank of the navigable River Parrett in Bridwater docks. The 66ft-long western span was fixed, but the next two spans were movable, the 80ft-long eastern span rolling sideways on transverse wheels to make room for the 127ft-long main span to be retracted into this space, thus leaving a 78ft-clear opening for river traffic. The bridge has not opened since 1953 and the movable span was converted to a fixed bridge in the 1970s. Also in Bridgwater’s docks is a double-leaf steel bascule bridge, built in 1907, to provide a road link between the inner and tidal basins. Bridgwater is notable, too, for being the site of a surprise night attack across pontoon bridges in 1645. BHRB, BRBV, CEHS
This attractive 80ft-wide bridge was built in 1960 to bypass Ross as part of improvements to the A40 trunk road between the Midlands and South Wales. Although the 353ft-long bridge appears to have a 203ft-long central main arch and two 75ft-long half-arch side spans, structurally it is two separate near-balanced double cantilevers with a central suspended section spanning 75ft. The prestressed concrete structure has nine main beams. The point-tooling to the exposed concrete on the boat-shaped piers and the web of the external beams gives a very satisfactory finish. The consulting engineer designers were Scott, Wilson, Kirkpatrick & Partners. The Wye Valley Walk passes the east end of the bridge. BRW, CQ, MBB
Bridstow Bridge
This magnificent medieval Grade A bridge provided an important crossing over the River Don. It has a single pointed arch of granite spanning 70ft with a rise of about 50ft, and is only 11ft wide between parapets. The bridge was first built in 1320, supposedly on the instructions of Robert the Bruce, who certainly crossed over it, and was substantially rebuilt in 1607. Its strategic importance was lost when it was bypassed in 1830. In around 1900 a two-thirds size replica of the bridge was built about thirty-five miles away at Kildrummy Castle (qv). BB, BiB, BoB, BPJ, CEHSH, DB, DoB, NTBB
Brig o’ Balgownie
The Auld Brig o’ Doon is a single tall segmental stone bridge spanning 70ft that was built in the mid-fifteenth century. It is best known for the 1790 poem Tam o’ Shanter by Burns, who was born nearby, and Eugène Delacroix painted several versions of Burns’s famous chase in which Tam and his horse Maggie were able to escape the pursuing witches by safely crossing over the running waters of the Doon. Because of the Auld Brig’s narrow 12ft roadway, a new bridge was built to bypass it in 1832. BB, BBPS, BiB, BoB, BPJ, CEHSL, NTBB
Brig o’ Doon
Captain (later Sir Samuel) Brown RN was the man behind the early development of the modern suspension bridge with his invention in 1817 of the bar-link wrought iron chain. This was first used in 1820 for the Union Bridge (qv) and in 1821 he built his first pier at Leith before completing this Royal Suspension Chain Pier at Brighton in 1823 to service cross-Channel and coastal shipping.
The pier had four 255ft-long suspension spans supported by cast iron Egyptian-style towers that rose 25ft above deck level and stood on clusters of piled columns. There were four wrought iron chains on each side of the bridge made up of 20-ft long links, with a 1in-diameter vertical wrought iron rod hanging from each link connection to support the deck. The pier, which was destroyed by a storm in 1896, was recorded for posterity in the paintings by Turner and Constable. BE, BoB, BSP1, CEHS, FFP, Miller
The once-magnificent West Pier at Brighton opened in 1866. Including its extension of 1893 it was 1,115ft long with fine cast iron work and was widely regarded as one of the country’s leading piers. Despite being listed Grade I, it suffered gradual deterioration and was closed for safety reasons in 1975. It was partially reopened in 1987 and work later started on its restoration. However, in 2003 arson attacks destroyed the pavilion and concert hall and in 2014 part of the ruined pier collapsed during a storm.
Shortly before the Brighton Chain Pier* (qv) collapsed in 1896, work began on the nearby 1,760ft-long Palace Pier to replace it and this was opened in 1899. BSP1, BSP2, CEHSE, FFP, PoS, SP
This bridge, completed in 1988 to carry a railway over the M60 motorway near junction 25, was built beside the track before the cutting was excavated and the complete 2,600-tonne structure was slid into position during a weekend closure of the line. Designed by British Rail, it is the largest steel Warren girder bridge to have been built in Britain, with a span of 120m. BRBV
The Old Bridge at Bristol, which was built by 1247, was best known for its superstructure of houses. The bridge itself consisted of four pointed stone arches, with spans of from 22ft to 26ft, and a deck that was about 20ft wide. Originally it had a chapel over its wider central pier but in later years there was a line of five-storey wooden houses on each side. These were about 24ft deep and their backs were supported on supplementary arches spanning between the extended ends of the piers. The bridge was replaced in 1768 by a new structure with three segmental stone arches, and this was widened in 1861 and again in 1874. ABTB, BME, BoB, MBVA
Completed in 1850, nearly quarter of a century after Telford’s nearby suspension bridge (Menai Bridge [qv]), the magnificent Britannia tubular bridge was built by Robert Stephenson to carry the Chester & Holyhead Railway over the Menai Strait. The rail tracks ran through twin separate rectangular box girders prefabricated on shore from riveted wrought iron plates, floated out and jacked up vertically into their final positions. There were four spans – two central spans each of 460ft and two half-length side spans – and these were fully connected together to operate as the first fabricated continuous beam structure. The main spans remained Britain’s longest railway bridge spans until the Forth Bridge (qv) was completed in 1890. The three intermediate masonry towers extended well above the top of the box girders to make provision for supplementary suspension chains, although these were never installed.
A fire in 1970 left the tubes sagging irreparably and a doubledeck structure, with a new upper deck road relieving traffic on the Menai Bridge, was constructed between the existing towers. This new structure consists of two steel arch main spans, while each of the 230ft-long side spans was rebuilt as a three-span reinforced concrete column and beam viaduct.
The Wales Coast Path passes under the bridge. BA, BE, BEVA, BHRB, BoB, BOTB, BRB, BRBV, BW, CEHW, CEHWW, DB, DoB, IB, RHB, Dempsey, Richards
In 1772 James Paine built an elegant stone bridge above the weir at the south end of Brocket Hall’s parkland lake. This bridge has three segmental arches spanning between piers and abutments decorated with panelled pilasters containing empty niches and is surmounted by sectioned balustrades. The arches themselves spring from unusual splayed bases immediately above the rounded cutwaters.
Brocket Hall Park Bridge
This is one of two identical post-tensioned in-situ concrete hollow box beam footbridges built in 1960 over the Doncaster bypass part of the A1 motorway. The 100ft-long main span, containing a 30ft-long suspended central section, is balanced by 43ft-long side spans at each end. The bridge is unusually slim, with a depth of less than 14in at the centre. CQ, PCF
Britannia Bridge under construction
Previous bridges here were known as Biddenham Bridge and date back to the early thirteenth century, but rebuilding works have been recorded in many years, including 1281, 1728, 1753 and 1785. Originally there were four main spans over the Great Ouse and a narrow 6ft pedestrian causeway over the flood plain. In 1814 this causeway was replaced with a 17ft-wide bridge carried on twenty stone arches, and the roadway over the main spans was widened from about 11ft to 17ft in 1902. The bridge was bypassed in 1986 and the old structure now carries local traffic and the Ouse Valley Way. ABMEE, BBeds, BEVA, BG, BME, CEHE, DB
This insignificant little clam bridge across South Dene (Sladen) Beck is mainly known because of its literary associations – the Brontë sisters would often walk here from their home in Haworth about three miles away. A retaining wall on each bank of the stream is topped by two large corbelled stones, one above the other, with a stone slab spanning between the upper corbels. The current bridge, which replaced an earlier structure destroyed by floods the previous year, was built in 1990 and has a commemorative stone donated by the Brontë Society. BLY
This timber bridge was built in 1894 to replace an earlier structure dating from 1857 that had been destroyed by floods. Altogether, there are fifteen spans with intermediate timber bents as piers. At each end of the bridge, timber beams support the deck, but for the five longer main spans over the river, where the bents are about 28ft apart, there are A-frame trusses on each side of the deck. Some of these trusses were replaced in 1987. HB, TimB
Broomhill Bridge
See Glasgow Bridge, City of Glasgow
The first railway bridge was built here to designs by Edwin Clark to carry what was then the East Coast main line between London and York across the River Aire. One of the five wrought iron tubular bridges built during the heroic age of railway engineering, it had separate parallel tubes for each track. These were each 21ft high with an initial mid-height width of only about 10½ft, and had a clear span of 232ft. Although the first track was opened in 1851, its structure proved to be too narrow for safety and the second tube was widened by 21in before being brought into use, the first tube then being widened as well. A replacement bridge, consisting of two steel trussed girders, was completed in 1903. BOTB, BRBV, CEHN, DoB
This early-nineteenth-century bridge was built across the sunken lane that is now the B6262 to give private access from Brougham Hall to St Wilfred’s Chapel. Its single segmental stone arch spans between the battered lower walls of the earlier part of the Hall and a field retaining wall.
Brougham Hall Bridge
This fortified manor house, first built in about 1300, stands within a broad moat crossed by a bridge defended by a 1406 gatehouse. (The military historian Sir Charles Oman, author of the 1926 book Castles, considered Broughton to be ‘the most beautiful castle in all England’.) The current Grade I bridge, which probably dates from the early eighteenth century, has two flat segmental stone arches decorated with slightly projecting keystones. Another bridge and gatehouse, shown as ruinous in an early-eighteenth-century picture, no longer exist.
An early chain suspension footbridge, spanning about 70ft across the River Irwell, was built in 1826 to take the crowds going to Manchester Racecourse. In April 1831 some seventy men of the 60th Rifle Corps fell about 17ft into the water, luckily without loss of life, when the bridge collapsed as they marched over – a more catastrophic outcome than the ‘wobble’ experienced by London’s Millennium Bridge (qv) from a similar cause! As a result of this collapse military units have since then broken step as they cross bridges. Part of a pier of the bridge still remains. Miller
The Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway built this Grade A viaduct in 1842. It has seven segmental stone arches: a central one spanning 66ft flanked on each side by three 50ft-spans, one of which has been bricked up. The central arch, which crosses the A89, has a later steel-framed support. BHRB
This bridge is now located beside the North Lock entrance to Bristol Docks and partly beneath the new Cumberland Basin swing bridge (qv) and is the bridge designed by Brunel for the first, now South, Lock in 1849. Originally 121ft long, it was shortened to 110ft in 1874 to fit its new position and consists of wrought iron girders with hollow circular top flanges and hollow triangular bottom flanges. CEHWW, IB
Brunel Swing Bridge
Completed in 1800, this beautifully situated aqueduct carries the Brecknock & Abergavenny Canal about 25ft over the River Usk. There are four stone arches, each spanning about 36ft, carrying a 12ft-wide water channel and tow path. BoW, CEHW, CEHWW, SBIW
Brynich Aqueduct
This sheep transporter (or bucket bridge) crosses the River Etive at a point where, conveniently for the farmer, it is next to Glen Etive Road. The transporter consists of a small wooden box about 5ft by 2ft in plan and 2½ft deep with a pulley wheel at each corner. These wheels run along two parallel suspension cables and there are two higher cables for pulling oneself along by.
This Grade I stone bridge probably dates back to the early fourteenth century and consists of a single 18ft-span pointed and ribbed arch. Two of the original four ribs still exist, together with recent replacements for the other two. The bridge was widened on both sides in 1913. DBHG, DDB
Buddle Bridge
When Buildwas Abbey was founded in 1135, part of its endowment income was tolls from the nearby bridge over the Severn, and a grant of pontage was made for the repair of this bridge or a later replacement in 1318. In 1643 turnpikes were fitted to prevent horses crossing and in 1795 the bridge was swept completely away. Its replacement, designed by Telford and his first cast iron bridge, was a 130ft-span structure on the lines of composite truss bridges then being developed in timber. On each side of the deck there were two arch ribs of different radii – the larger radius rib springing from higher up the abutment than the smaller radius rib – with the result that the ribs crossed each other at about the quarter-span points. Near the haunches the spacing between the ribs was filled with X-braced panels, and spandrel posts on the larger radius rib supported deck beams. Telford’s arch was replaced in 1906 by an N-braced girder structure which was itself replaced in 1992. The Severn Way crosses the bridge. ABTB, ABWWE, BE, BoB, BOTB, DoB, DoD, IB, ICE, TT
A 21ft-span stone arch structure here was built in 1799 and replaced in 1962 by the existing aqueduct to carry the Lancaster-Kendal Canal over the A683. The 37ft-wide structure has two prestressed concrete box beams with a clear span of 64ft, between which there is a prestressed concrete slab forming the base of the canal trough. BA, MBB, SBIW
This bridge, designed by Frederick Barnes and built in 1846, carries the Colchester to Ipswich Road across the top of the cutting dug for the Eastern Union Railway’s line between the same towns. There are five semi-elliptical brick arches, each spanning about 25ft and standing on tall buttressed piers. CEHE
Bull Bridge
In 1847 Brunel built a timber bridge here to carry the Berks & Hants Railway’s tracks across the Kennet & Avon Canal. It had three spans, the main one being a king post truss spanning 80ft. These spans were replaced by wrought iron structures in 1885. BTBV
See Abingdon Bridge, Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Sir George Barley-Bruce designed this masonry viaduct for the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway’s branch to Alston. Built in 1852, it has five skew arches separated by a blind arch from a further open arch skewed in the opposite direction, and is 32ft high. The railway is closed and the viaduct now carries walkers on the South Tyne Trail and Pennine Journey. BHRB, RHB
There have been several bridges at this important crossing point over the River Parrett, including a timber structure built in 1622 and a later three-arch stone bridge. In 1825 this was replaced by the present bridge as part of navigational improvements on the river. It has a single 68ft-span segmental stone arch rising 14ft with a circular flood relief tunnel in each spandrel. The Macmillan Way West crosses the river on this bridge. ABSE, CEHS
There had been a ferry at this site for many years before a timber bridge was built in 1799. This was replaced by the present Bursledon Bridge in the early 1930s to carry the A27 road over the River Hamble. It is a reinforced concrete structure with three open-spandrel segmental arches, a central span of 62ft and flanking spans of 55ft, each consisting of seven ribs supporting the 42ft-wide deck structure on vertical spandrel columns. BHHI
Bursledon Bridge
Several follies, including a sham bridge, were built in these landscaped heritage gardens by the antiquarian Philip Carteret Webb (1700–1770). There are three lakes, the upper one of which is fed entirely by springs and is crossed by a rustic stone bridge about 8ft wide and with four segmental arches. At the end of the bottom lake the view is closed off by what appears to be a gently arched bridge of eleven arches that stands on a brick weir. However, it is not a bridge but a stone wall about 150ft long, gently curved in elevation and containing segmentally arched openings – a central one of 18ft span, eight of 12ft span and end ones 6ft long – behind which is a channel with two drainage pipes to take away water flowing over the weir.
Designed by Wilkinson Eyre with engineer Jan Brobrowski, this footbridge spans 32m across the Great Ouse and was opened in 1997. The structure consists of twin tied arches, each spanning 32m, that lean outward at 35o. The hangers supporting the edge beams on each side of the 2m-wide deck are in the same plane as the arches.
Designed by Robert Hodgson and built in 1879 to carry a local road over the deep Ouseburn Valley, this bridge has fourteen 60ft-long semi-elliptical brick arch spans. In 1902 cantilever footpaths were added to widen the bridge, and it was further improved in 1985. CEHN
This six-span doubly-curved viaduct, completed in 1979, was designed by Ove Arup & Partners to carry the Newcastle Metro tracks 30m over the Ouseburn. The spans, the longest of which is 69m, are supported by piers that flare out at the bottom into two separate short legs. The viaduct was built by successively attaching precast concrete cantilever units with epoxy resin glued joints and stressing them back to the previously completed structure, the first use of this construction technique in the country. BRBV, CBTT, CEHN
Byker Metro Viaduct
An early bridge at Bywell, which may have been built in the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century, was nothing but a ruin by the mid-sixteenth century. These ruins were blown up in 1836 when work started on a new bridge downstream. This has five stone arches each spanning 45ft. ABNE, BND
