The Victoria Swing Bridge is a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

docks,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, which carries a dock road (and previously twin railway lines) across the

Water of Leith The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing through central Edinburgh, Scotland, that starts in the Pentlands Hills and flows into the port of Leith and then into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The ...

at a point where it is canalised as the Inner Harbour.

History

The bridge was built between 1871 and 1874 to service the new docks. It was engineered by Rendel and Robertson, with J. H. Bostock as resident engineer. McDonald & Grant were contractors for the foundations, and the bridge was built by the Skerne Iron Works. The works cost around . Until the completion of the

Kincardine Bridge The Kincardine Bridge is a road bridge crossing the Firth of Forth from Falkirk council area to Kincardine, Fife, Scotland. History The bridge was constructed between 1932 and 1936, to a design by Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners, Consulting E ...

, also in Scotland, in 1936, it is thought to have been the longest clear swing bridge span in Britain (The

Swing Bridge, River Tyne The Swing Bridge is a swing bridge over the River Tyne, England, connecting Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, and lying between the Tyne Bridge and the High Level Bridge, River Tyne, High Level Bridge. It is a Grade II* listed structure. His ...

, completed two years after the Victoria Bridge, has a longer deck span). In 1974, the bridge was designated a Category A listed building by

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

(HES). Despite some renovation of the bridge that was completed in 2000, HES put the structure on the Buildings at Risk Register in 2020 with a risk category of "Moderate". This followed reports of the poor condition of the deck, with timber rotting in places and vegetation taking hold. In 2021, Forth Ports was granted listed building consent for a full refurbishment programme, the work to include renovation of the two walkways, re-decking of the carriageway, replacement of the decked turning circle areas and repainting of the metalwork. The project would be financed by a "private six-figure investment". The refurbishment was completed and the bridge officially reopened in June 2024.

Design

It was long in total, with a clear span of , and a roadway width of . The bridge was constructed from

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

, and weighed , including of timber decking and of

kentledge Kentledge or kentledge weights are slabs or blocks of concrete or iron (usually pig iron, sometimes with a cast-in handle to assist moving). They are used within ships or boats as permanent, high-density ballast. They may also be used as counterwei ...

counterweight. The bridge carried two tracks of a dock railway and a road, and there are footpaths on either side outside the truss structure. The tracks and roadway have now been removed, and the bridge has a wooden deck. The bridge was powered hydraulically by a power station just to the north. It swung to the north, and the space afforded for the counterbalance can still be seen. It has been succeeded by a new bridge further downstream, which carries a road & tramline known as Ocean Drive.

References

{{commons category Buildings and structures in Leith Swing bridges in Scotland Bridges in Edinburgh Bridges across the Water of Leith Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh