View of bridge

Description View of bridge

Date 1/9/1883

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 746342

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of IN 2513

Scope and Content High Bridge over the River Spean, Highland High Bridge, one of the major achievements of General Wade's military road building scheme undertaken for the government between 1724 and 1740, was built over the River Spean in 1736. The Victorian photographer, Erskine Beveridge, photographed the bridge in 1883. Wade's high bridge has three spans of widths 12.2m, 15.2m and 12.2m. It stands 24.4m above the river which, at this point, is 9.1m deep, giving an overall height of 33.5m. The bridge was his standard width of 4.9m, and 85.4m long. It cost over £1,087 to build which was, in 1736, a considerable amount. General George Wade (1673-1748) was an English general and military engineer who is remembered as a maker of Highland roads. He began the process of providing the Scottish modern road system as a servant of a government wishing to have better control of potentially rebellious highlanders. He started with the Fort William to Inverness road in 1725, and by 1734 had built 402km of roads and 40 bridges. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/746342

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap