Kalemouth Suspension Bridge
Crosses the River Teviot south of Kelso, Scottish Borders.
Built c.1835 by Samuel Brown, with masonry by William Mather of Kalemouth.
It is a rare surviving example of Brown's chain bridges. The bridge was refurbished in 1987, with a new wooden deck and parapets, and new links and pins connecting the chains. New anchorages were installed in 1990.[1] However, the design is little changed from the original.
It is interesting to compare this bridge with Samuel Brown's larger Union Chain Bridge, built in 1820. Both are still in use by light traffic, but the Union Bridge has discrete 20thC. alterations in the form of a pair of superimposed steel cables and pairs of angle iron beams under the wooden deck, whereas the design of the Kalemouth bridge is little changed from the original. A major improvement in the design of the Kalemouth bridge was the provision of stout timber lattice parapets, which greatly increased the stiffness of the deck.
Nearby attraction: Roxburgh Viaduct.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 'Civil Engineering Heritage - Scotland Lowlands and Borders' by Roland Paxton and Jim Shipway, RCAHMS/ICE/Thomas Telford, 2007