Bedminster Bridge is a

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England, that crosses the New Cut of the River Avon. There are actually two adjacent parallel bridges, the Bedminster Old Bridge downstream and the Bedminster New Bridge upstream, which form part of a

gyratory system Gyratory System is a three-piece music band based in London. It is fronted by producer/trumpet player Andrew Blick. Blick was a session musician in the 1990s and previously a member of One More Grain. His trumpet-playing style, which involves ...

carrying the

A38 road The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, Bristol, Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England. The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, mak ...

. The Old Bridge dates back to 1883, when it replaced the previous Harford's Bridge, and was

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 1994. The New Bridge was added in the 1960s. The Old Bridge is built of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and pennant stone, with a shallow, elliptical arch. The sides have an iron cross lattice with applied flower casts and vertical chain-moulded struts, and above it a balustrade of interwoven ropes beneath a heavy rope handrail. At either side are abutments, surmounted by panelled

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

piers to the

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

s. The original Harford's Bridge was a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

bridge built in 1809 at the time of the construction of the New Cut. During the demolition of Harford's Bridge and the construction of Bedminster Old Bridge, a temporary bridge was erected alongside. Once it had fulfilled its purpose, the temporary bridge was lifted off its base by two barges on a rising tide, and moved upstream to a new location, where it still exists as the Langton Street Bridge.

References

Bridges completed in 1809 Bridges completed in 1883 Bridges in Bristol Grade II listed bridges Grade II listed buildings in Bristol 1809 establishments in England 1883 establishments in England {{UK-bridge-struct-stub