Ledgowan Bridge

The new bridge

Ledgowan Bridge crosses Abhainn Loch A' Chroisg at Achnasheen, just upstream of where it meets the Abhainn a'Chomair and becomes the River Bran, a tributary of the River Conon. However, the council signs state that the river is the River Bran! There are in fact two bridges here, one built nearly 200 years ago by Telford, the other as recently as 1998!

The New Bridge

The A890 is now carried on a single span bridge, consisting of four steel beams and a concrete deck, with a standard S2 roadway and pavements. The bridge spans between rubble stone faced abutments, which somehow fail to look anything other than modern with their concrete caps. The bridge parapets are the standard metal railings seen across Scotland.

It was built in 1998 as part of an upgrade to the route which saw several miles of new carriageway constructed south of Achnasheen into Glen Carron. This also saw the construction of a new roundabout junction at Achnasheen where the A890 terminates on the A832 just a short distance north of the bridge.

The Old Bridge

Looking across the bridge

Just upstream stands the bridge that the new Ledgowan Bridge replaced, a single span stone arch bridge built in 1819 by Thomas Telford as part of his commission for Highland Roads and Bridges. The old bridge is a very simple, un-decorated design with a single arch across the river, and it is category B listed. The roadway across the bridge is wider than many of Telford's bridges, and the remains of white lines suggest that it may even have been marked out as a narrow two-way crossing, although this may have been necessary with the close proximity to the junction with the A832. The bridge is now gated at either end, and only accessible to pedestrians from the A832.

Links

• Historic Scotland: listing for old bridge
• Canmore: site record for old bridge