Haughhead Bridge

Haughhead Bridge

Haughhead Bridge carries the B758 across the River Clyde between Uddingston and Glasgow. It was built in 1840, and was originally called the Red Brig locally due to the use of Red Sandstone in the construction, it replaced a notorious ford across the river. The bridge has four arches, with the three piers set in the river with octagonal cutwaters. The two central arches appear to be slightly larger than the flanking arches, with the roadway and parapets ramping up to the centre of the bridge, and a flatter section between the two central arches. The stonework on the bridge is all cut ashlar, although much of it is now weathered. There are shallow pilasters rising up from each pier to the tops of the parapets, with slightly larger coping stones to accommodate them. There is also a string course at road level, but this does not appear to project over the pilasters. The parapets extend only the length of the bridge on the north bank and have plain terminations with short curved wing walls beyond. On the south bank the curved wingwalls are the same height and contiguous with the parapets. They have seen numerous repairs over the years, which may account for these differences.

The road over the bridge is S2 without pavements, and apart from the crest over the centre is straight and offers good visibility. On the north bank of the river the road turns sharply to the right, although this was a new alignment in the 1960s to accommodate the construction of the Maryville Interchange on the M74. Prior to this, the road turned hard left at the same point, and partially remains as access to a farm.