Kiachnish Bridge

The ribs under the bridge

As we near Fort William heading north on the A82, the notorious straight at Three Mile Water leads to the Kiachnish Bridge at Coruanan, which was opened in 1933. This is a three arch span across the River Kiachnish. Of all of the bridges from Glencoe to Fort William on the modern A82 route, this is the only structure to carry a date stone. Perhaps this indicates that it was the final piece of the route to be finished, marking the full opening of the new highway into Fort William.

The bridge itself is a 3 pointed arch concrete structure, built on the skew with four parallel ribs forming the arches under the flat deck. The roadway is then a standard 2-lane one, with pavements on either side. As is common with many bridges, the plain concrete parapets step out over the abutments. Due to the proximity to the shore, all three arches span water at high tide, although at low tide the southern arch generally just crosses the rocky beach. Between the piers are substantial cutwaters.

Old Bridge

The old bridge

The current bridge replaces the old bridge which still serves on the driveway to Chiochnish House in the trees to the right. This is a single stone arch across the river, and was almost certainly constructed as part of Telford's reconstruction of this route in c1810. However, it may be slightly newer as some records suggest it is mid-19th Century.