The conclusion of three years of restoration work on the Union Chain Bridge linking England and Scotland across the River Tweed has been formally marked as the structure was declared as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
image: for illustration – Union Chain Bridge Scotland and England – By DeFacto – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
New Civil Engineer writes:
The bridge, which opened in 1820, is the oldest vehicle-carrying catenary bridge in the world and, when it opened, its 137m span made it the longest bridge in the world. The structure was designed by Samuel Brown who was a British Royal Naval officer who also designed innovative cables for ships made from iron chains. Plans to refurbish the bridge started in 2014 with the formation of the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge with former ICE Gold Medal awardee Roland Paxton as its patron. However, the £10.5M work did not get underway until 2020. Following the completion of the upgrade by Spencer Group in April, the weight limit on the bridge has been raised from 2t to 3t.
The structure is Grade I listed in England and a Grade A listed structure in Scotland but has now been singled out for honour by the ASCE…
