The Bawbee Bridge carries the A955 across the River Leven between Methil and Leven in Fife. It takes its name from the former toll price for a pedestrian of a halfpenny, or Bawbee in Scots. The first bridge on the site was a chain-suspension footbridge erected in 1821, but replaced in 1840 by a stone arch bridge with three arches across the river. At some point during the life of this bridge, the railway arrived in Leven, and required an additional span over the tracks to the east end of the river bridge.
The old stone arch bridge was replaced in 1957 by a modern concrete structure, consisting of a single arch span across the river and then a square-topped span over the railway. The river arch is faced with pebble-dashed concrete panels typical of the era while the railway span is faced in stone, making a rather harsh contrast, although there are few publicly accessible places from where this can be seen. The roadway over the bridges is a wide S2 with pavements and stone parapets. There is also old stonework in the abutments and the pier between the two parts of the bridge, perhaps suggesting that these were retained from the 1840 structure. The railway line was later mothballed, and the tracks either lifted or became overgrown, meaning that the bridge has not been improved to modern network rail safety standards.
Replacement
The Leven railway link is due to be re-opened as an electrified line in 2023/24, and as a result the old bridge sat too low to accommodate the power lines. There has also been an 18T weight limit on the bridge for a number of years, so the decision was taken to replace the railway structure with a new bridge (although some reports suggest that the existing river bridge was also being replaced, it appears it has been retained and strengthened). The work started in late October 2022, and was completed a few days earlier than the revised timetable in November 2023. Due to the lack of an alternative crossing of the Leven (the next bridge up is Cameron Bridge, a detour of nearly 5 miles) the council installed a temporary bridge for traffic. This is sited further downstream, and accessed off the B932 South Street on the west bank, while connecting to the roundabout on the A955 on the east bank near the leisure centre. For various reasons, neither of the old concrete structures in this area were deemed suitable for use by modern traffic.
