Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders
Date 2007
Event ID 602832
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/602832
The three-span mediaeval masonry bridge spanning the Almond dates originally from ca.1488. Only the westernmost of its original pointed arches remains, which has four ribs bridged by stone slabs. The roadway width between parapets is 1312 ft. The other two arches, destroyed by a flood in 1587, were rebuilt in 1619 as vaulted arches, also pointed. The spans are unusual, being 37 ft for the centre span and 40 ft for the two outer spans. The two upstream and the east downstream cutwaters are of one design and probably date from 1619, but the west downstream cutwater looks older and may be original. The inner face of the upstream parapet bears several dates in the 18th and 19th centuries when repairs were carried out. Its outer face bears the date 1619.
Cramond Brig appears to have been the only bridge over the Almond at this location until 1820, when increasing traffic on the Queensferry road required a new bridge.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.
