Balnagown Bridge

The Bridge carrying the B817

Balnagown Bridge carries the B817 across the River Balnagown at Kildary to the north east of Invergordon. It is a relatively modern concrete arch bridge, perhaps dating from the 1960s which replaced a stone arch bridge first built by Thomas Telford as part of his commission on Highland Roads and Bridges in c1815. Old photographs suggest that Telfords bridge had already been widened, with a cantilevered concrete deck on top of the old stone arch, however as traffic levels rose on what was the A9, the bridge was completely replaced with the current structure. This is a concrete arch faced in dressed stone, with a pronounced arch ring which carries a wide two lane carriagway with pavements on either side. There is a string course at road level, above which the plain stone parapets rise up and are capped with coping stones.

A9 Bridge

The new A9 bridge

The A9 no longer crosses the older Balnagown Bridge, but instead speeds past a very short distance down stream on another new concrete arch bridge dating from the 1990s. It was built as part of the upgrade of the old B817 route to form an Invergordon bypass, carrying traffic through Easter Ross more efficiently than the old road could. The new bridge is a plain grey, with the abutments and piers detailed in a curious tessellating T-shaped pattern. Although the river is spanned with a single arch, there are subsidary spans to either side. That to the east is a smaller arch crossing an estate road, while to the west lies a larger square span carrying the A9 over its former route, now the B817.