Bridge of Bogendreip

The old bridge

The Bridge of Bogendreip carries the B974 across the Water of Dye and is the lowest bridge before the confluence with the Water of Feugh. The current bridge is a modern two-lane concrete structure with pavements between metal barriers as parapets. It removes a long meandering bend followed by the road to reach the old bridge, which sits at right angles to the new bridge, thanks to a bend in the river.

Old Bridge

The old bridge is a single span stone arch which dates from the late 18th Century, although little more is known about it for certain. In many respects, it resembles the military bridges built by Major Caulfeild on his road over the Cairn o'Mount pass, and elsewhere, however, there is currently no evidence that this stretch of road was ever under the authority of the army at the time. It is not unknown, however, for the army to be involved in the construction of bridges for local landowners when they were working on roads in the area, so it may be that the bridge was built under the direction of the army.

The width of the river at this point led to a wide, shallow span being used, rather than the more common semi-circular spans seen with military bridges. However, the narrow single track roadway still climbs over the arch, which is built in a very plain style, leading to a peak in the parapets. The abutments step out from the arch on each bank, although no two steps appear to be the same, and then the approaches are splayed beyond, particularly on the south bank where the old road line had to turn sharply to follow the river downstream. Today the bridge is bollarded off at one end and has no direct access to the B974 at the other, but still seems to be in use a as a footbridge.