Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands

Date 2007

Event ID 962863

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/962863

Thurso Bridge

(Institute Civil Engineers Historic Engineering Works no. HEW 1557)

The first road bridge at Thurso, over the Thurso, was built in 1800, replacing local fords, by local mason Robert Tulloch and had three semicircular arches with oculi over the piers. It served the town well until 1886, when a misguided attempt to widen its narrow roadway resulted in the collapse of the central arch. It was replaced by the present bridge of four segmental arches. A commemorative plaque on the present bridge states that it was formally opened on 3 May 1887. The engineers were MacBey and Gordon, Elgin, and the contractor was John Malcolm.

The first substantial bridge over the Thurso was built at Halkirk in 1731 by Sir George Sinclair of Ulbster in an attempt to establish an inland market centre there.

R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.

Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.