Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders
Date 2007
Event ID 589051
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/589051
This bridge over the Tweed is one of John Rennie’s finest and a precursor to his magnificent Waterloo and New
London Bridge over the Thames. He designed it in 1799 for the local road trustees to replace a six-arch bridge,
built a short way upstream in ca.1755, that had partially collapsed in 1797 because of scour to its shallow
foundations. The bridge, built from 1801 to 1804, has five semielliptical arches of 72 ft span and 10 ft rise that provided a greater waterway than its predecessor. The foundations are all sunk at least 7 ft into bedrock and were built in cofferdams that were pumped dry by a waterwheel in a mill-race on the south bank. The width between the parapets is 24 ft. The contractors were Murray & Lees and the cost was £12 876. The architectural details are correct and bold, with a wide projecting cornice, columns and entablatures
perfectly proportioned, and rusticated cutwaters. The steep rise of the ground at the south end required a highbridge and the choice of a horizontal line of road and parapets to give a symmetrical elevation necessitated an embankment at the north end. A serious accident during construction nearly deprived
the nation of Kelso-born, Sir William Fairbairn. When 14 years old and working as a labourer at the bridge, a
stone he was carrying proved too heavy and his leg sustained a ‘fearful gash’ which threatened to make him
a cripple. Fortunately he recovered to fulfil a destiny which included experimentally developing and making
iron girder bridges, culminating in the 460 ft spans of the Menai tubular bridge by 1850, more than six times
greater than those of Kelso! Masonry re-pointing and some bridge strengthening took place in 1921. A small width increase was proposed in 1956 but the Fine Art Commission objected strongly because the required cantilevering would affect the architecture of the elevations. It was not implemented. In 1981 the parapets were rebuilt with much new stone being used.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering Scotland: Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission fromThomas Telford Publishers.
