Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders
Date 2007
Event ID 606325
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/606325
The origins of the Auld Brig are uncertain, although mention of a bridge is made in Ayr’s Royal Charter of 1236. Inglis mentions that a payment made by James IV to masons in 1491 is generally assumed to relate to its construction. The bridge has four arches of 52–53 ft each and the piers are 15 ft wide. The width within the parapets is 12 ft.
In 1597 the brig was described as ruinous. Little is known of its later history but in 1732 the north arch fell. The brig was rebuilt and repaired from time to time and from 1907–10, largely on the initiative of J. A. Morris, FRIBA of Ayr, against the advice of Sir William Arrol. Urgent and drastic remedial works were carried out to refurbish it under the direction of W. S. Wilson.
Shafts were sunk within the piers to the foundations and the bases grouted and concreted solid. Stonework was replaced and the superstructure strengthened internally, involving underpinning, by concrete in walls and slabs, and the whole structure was repointed and made good, retaining as much of the original work as practicable.
The engineering work was carried out by direct labour under the supervision of Simpson & Wilson, consulting engineers, and Morris, who attended to the archaeological features of the work. The bridge is now pedestrianised and a tourist attraction.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.
