Connel Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans Loch Etive at

Connel Connel ( Gaelic: ''A' Choingheal'') is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is situated on the southern shore of Loch Etive. The Lusragan Burn flows through the village and into the loch. The most noticeable feature in the village is Conne ...

in Scotland. The bridge takes the

A828 road List of A roads in zone 8 in Great Britain starting north of the A8 and west of the A9 (roads beginning with 8). Single- and double-digit roads Triple-digit roads Four-digit roads See also * B roads in Zone 8 of the Great Britain number ...

across the narrowest part of the loch, at the Falls of Lora. It is a category B listed structure.

History

The bridge was built by Arrol's Bridge and Roof Company to carry the

Ballachulish branch line The Callander and Oban Railway company was established with the intention of linking the sea port of Oban to the railway network. This involved a long line from Callander through wild and thinly populated terrain, and shortage of money meant that ...

of the Callander and Oban Railway, which opened on 20 August 1903. Nearly of steel were used in its construction and it cost almost £43,000 to build. When complete it had a longer span than any other railway bridge in Britain except the Forth Bridge, built by a different firm. The Connel Bridge was constructed by a firm called Arrol, of the Germiston Iron Works, Glasgow It was engineered by

John Wolfe Barry Sir John Wolfe Barry (7 December 1836 – 22 January 1918), the youngest son of famous architect Sir Charles Barry, was an English civil engineer of the late 19th and early 20th century. His most famous project is Tower Bridge over the River ...

and others. Originally, the bridge carried just the railway (a single track). In 1909, however, an additional train service started running between Connel Ferry station and on which road vehicles could be transported over the bridge. A single car was carried on a wagon hauled by a

charabanc A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It has "ben ...

that had been adapted to run on rails at St. Rollox railway works in Glasgow. This service also called at North Connel station at the north end of the bridge. In 1914, a roadway was added to the bridge, alongside the railway line. The road occupied the western side of the bridge, with the railway running parallel immediately to the east. Due to the close proximity of road and railway, road traffic and trains were not permitted on the bridge at the same time and the bridge was effectively operated as an extended level crossing with gates. The road crossed to the opposite side of the railway at the north end of the bridge. A toll was payable by road users. After the branch line closed in 1966, the bridge was converted for the exclusive use of road vehicles and pedestrians, and the toll was removed. Despite the railway track having been removed, the roadway is not wide enough for two vehicles to cross each other. Traffic lights are installed at each end of the bridge to enforce one-way traffic.

Design

Connel Bridge has a span of between the piers, but a clear span of due to the supports which project from the piers towards the centre of the bridge. The suspended span, the box-shaped section in the middle of the bridge, is long. The large span without supporting piers was necessitated by the strong tidal currents of the Falls of Lora, just to the east of the bridge. The approach viaducts on each side of the bridge both comprise three masonry

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

es. The height limit for vehicles using the bridge is , and taller vehicles have caused damage to the bridge.

Filming

Connel Bridge appears in the 1981 film '' Eye of the Needle'', starring Donald Sutherland.'Scotland the Movie' website
/ref> In the film, Sutherland's character is seen riding a stolen motorcycle across the bridge, which he then disposes of by pushing it down the embankment at the north end of the bridge after it runs out of fuel.

References

External links

{{commons category
Video of cars and trains sharing the bridge circa 1962
at the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

Cantilever bridges Railway bridges in Scotland Bridges completed in 1903 Category B listed buildings in Argyll and Bute Listed bridges in Scotland Road bridges in Scotland Former toll bridges in Scotland Bridges in Argyll and Bute 1903 establishments in Scotland