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Lovat Bridge

Road Bridge (Period Unassigned)

Site Name Lovat Bridge

Classification Road Bridge (Period Unassigned)

Alternative Name(s) River Beauly

Canmore ID 12741

Site Number NH54SW 17

NGR NH 51615 44964

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/12741

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Highland
  • Parish Kirkhill
  • Former Region Highland
  • Former District Inverness
  • Former County Inverness-shire

Archaeology Notes

NH54SW 17 51615 44964

Lovat Bridge [NAT]

OS 1:10,000 map, 1971.

For adjacent (to E) pillbox, see NH54SW 65.

(Location cited as NH 517 450). Lovat Bridge, Beauly. Built 1811-14 by engineer Thomas Telford and partly rebuilt after a flood in 1892. A fine 4-span, dressed-stone bridge, with segmental arches and triangular cutwaters. The carriageway has been built up at both ends to flatten the hump.

J R Hume 1977.

This bridge was built in 1811-14 by Thomas Telford (engineer) and George Burns (contractor) as a major element in the former's northern Scottish roadbuilding programme. This bridge is the largest in the area with spans of 40ft (12.2m), 50ft (15.2m), 60ft (18.3m), 50ft (15.2m) and 40ft (12.2m) over 470ft (143.3m) of waterway.

G Nelson 1990.

This bridge carries former line of the A9 (T) public road (now the A862) over the River Beauly to the S of Beauly (NH54NW 39). The river here forms the boundary between the parishes of Kirkhill (to the E) and Kilmorack (to the W).

The location assigned to this record defines the midpoint of the structure. The available map evidence indicates that it extends from NH c. 51572 44957 to NH c. 51664 44969.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 21 April 2006.

Activities

Construction (1811 - 1814)

Designed by Telford, built by George Burn.

R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.

Build (1829)

Repaired by Joseph Mitchell, engineer.

R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.

Publication Account (2007)

Lovat Bridge, Beauly

(Institute Civil Engineers Historic Engineering Works no. HEW 2544)

This fine bridge, with its five segmental masonry arches with spans of 40 ft, 50 ft, 60 ft, 50 ft and 40 ft over the Beauly, was built from 1811–14 by George Burn in red sandstone at a cost of £8802. Forming the arch-rings proved to be a hazardous task as his slender centring was often in danger from floating logs during floods.

The bridge was designed by Telford and characteristically exhibits a parapet line on a gentle arc of large radius, its effect emphasised by the pronounced double string course. Other attractive visual features are the archivolts (thin curved stones immediately above and highlighting the arch-rings) and the semi-hexagonal masonry piers rising from the cutwaters to become refuges at road level. The bridge has substantial abutments extending parallel to the river.

The bridge was partly damaged by the great flood of 1829, but repaired soon afterwards under Joseph Mitchell’s direction. In 1894 two spans had to be rebuilt following the collapse of a pier during severe flooding.

Repairs to the original spans and deck waterproofing were carried out in 1985. Although the bridge no longer forms part of the A9 road, it remains an essential link in the local road network.

R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.

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

Field Visit (2009 - 2009)

Photographic Survey

References

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