Edinburgh, Cramond, New Bridge
Road Bridge (19th Century) (1822)-(1962)
Site Name Edinburgh, Cramond, New Bridge
Classification Road Bridge (19th Century) (1822)-(1962)
Canmore ID 139849
Site Number NT17SE 123
NGR NT 17913 75371
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/139849
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
ARCHITECT:
John Rennie, 1819
Demolished 1962
SCOTTISH RECORD OFFICE REFERENCE:
Letter from James Balfour W S to Lord Melville requesting support for the Bill for building a new bridge over the River Almond 'in the line of road from the City of Edinburgh to Queensferry'
1821 GD51/5/603
Caledonian Mercury 11 January 1821, advertisement for contractors.
Caledonian Mercury, 1 June 1822, laying of foundation stone.
Caledonian Mercury, 2 October 1824 records the opening ceremony.
Construction (1819)
Photographic Survey (March 1962 - January 1963)
Photographic survey by the Scottish National Buildings Record/Ministry of Work in March 1962 to January 1963.
Project (2007)
This project was undertaken to input site information listed in 'Civil engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' by R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.
Publication Account (2007)
Cramond New Bridge was designed by Rennie just before his death, and had eight 50 ft span semicircular arches with six hollow spandrels. Robert Stevenson proposed an innovative under-spanned wrought-iron suspension bridge, with the superstructure resting on the chains, but this did not find favour with the Road Trustees who in 1820 proceeded with a traditional masonry bridge. Rennie’s bridge was demolished in 1963 and replaced by the present three-span concrete bridge as an approach road improvement to the Forth Road Bridge, then nearing completion.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.
