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Alness Bridge

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Alness Bridge
Location Map ( geo)
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Location
Alness
County
Ross-shire
Highway Authority
Highland
Opening Date
1815
Additional Information
Bridge Type:  Arch Bridge
Engineer:  Thomas Telford
On road(s)
B817
Crossings related to the B817
Looking across Alness Bridge

Alness Bridge was built c1815 by Thomas Telford as part of his commission on Highland Roads and Bridges. It is unusually built of dressed stone and highly decorated compared to the majority of bridges built under the commissioners, perhaps reflecting the influence of a local land owner or the townsfolk, who wanted something a bit more stylish than the normal plain bridges constructed elsewhere. Indeed, there is a suggestion that the bridge was entirely funded locally, but built as part of the new road.

The bridge is a single span stone arch carrying the B817 (formerly the A9) across the River Averon at the western end of Alness town centre. The abutments have shallow buttresses or pilasters rising either side of the arch and terminating at the top of the parapets. The Arch ring is pronounced, with a double string course carried above and working its way around the pilasters. The roadway today is level, but there is a suggestion that there was once a slight peak over the arch. The ends of the parapets splay out at either end into short wing walls, terminating with slightly larger blocks, although three of the four now run into further stone walls.

Due to the high volume of traffic carried on the road when it was still the A9, and the narrowness of the roadway, the bridge has had a tubular metal footbridge erected alongside a short distance upstream. Even today as the B817, the bridge can be a pinch point for traffic, and while it is possible for two cars to pass on the bridge, many choose to give way to oncoming traffic.




Alness Bridge
Related Pictures
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Bridges over the Averon - Geograph - 2020896.jpg

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