The Clachan Bridge (also known as the ''Bridge over the Atlantic'') is a simple, single-arched, hump-backed,

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

bridge spanning the Clachan Sound, southwest of

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, west of Scotland. It links the west coast of the Scottish mainland to the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Seil Seil (; , ) is one of the Slate Islands, Scotland, Slate Islands, located on the east side of the Firth of Lorn, southwest of Oban, in Scotland. Seil has been linked to the mainland by bridge since the late 18th century. The origins of the isl ...

. The bridge was originally designed by John Stevenson of Oban (and not by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...

as sometimes quoted) and was built between 1792 and 1793 by

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Robert Mylne. The original design had two arches, but it was finally built with a single high arch, of roughly span and about above the bed of the channel, to allow the passage of vessels of up to at high tide. The bridge is still in use today, forming part of the B844 road, and is in the care of

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

. Because the Clachan Sound connects at both ends to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, and might therefore be considered part of that ocean, the bridge came to be known as the Bridge over the Atlantic (). Such an appellation has also been applied to certain other bridges having similar situations, such as the Brúgvin um Streymin in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

and between Lewis and

Great Bernera Great Bernera (; ), often known just as Bernera (), is an island and community council, community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over , it is the thirty-fourth largest List of islands of Scotland, Scottish island. Great ...

in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

Wildlife

The south wall of the bridge has been colonised by fairy foxglove (''Erinus alpinus''). Occasionally whales have become trapped in the narrow Clachan Sound. In 1835 a whale measuring with a lower jaw of was stranded having become trapped in shallow water and unable to reverse out. In 1837, 192 pilot whales were caught in a similar fashion, the largest being long.

Gallery

File:Clachan Bridge (5000684495).jpg, Clachan Bridge File:Clachan Sound from the Bridge.jpg, View from the Clachan Bridge, looking north. Seil Island is on the left and the mainland on the right. File:Clachan Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1127873.jpg, Clachan Bridge

References

External links

{{Authority control Seil Bridges completed in 1793 Category A listed buildings in Argyll and Bute Listed bridges in Scotland Road bridges in Scotland Bridges in Argyll and Bute 1793 establishments in Great Britain