The Rio Cobre is a river of
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
. Its source is in the Rose Hall Mountain in the north-east of
Saint Catherine Parish
Saint Catherine () is a parish in the south east of Jamaica. It is located in the county of Middlesex, and is one of the island's largest and most economically valued parishes because of its many resources. It includes the first capital of Ja ...
, the headwaters being a writhing of unnamed, seasonally dry tributaries. The highest of these rise just above the contour. From here it flows to meet the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
into the Hunts Bay. It is dammed by the
Rio Cobre Dam just above
Spanish Town
Spanish Town (Jamaican Patois: Spain) is the capital and the largest town in the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica, Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and Briti ...
.
The river's most significant feature is perhaps the gorge through which it runs between
Bog Walk and northern
Spanish Town
Spanish Town (Jamaican Patois: Spain) is the capital and the largest town in the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica, Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and Briti ...
.
Bridges
There are a number of bridges over the Rio Cobre. The oldest is
Flat Bridge, which was first built before 1774.
[Long, Edward History of Jamaica (London: Frank Cas & Co. Ltd.) 1970]
A second bridge, Iron Bridge was built in 1801. The proposal for this bridge first appeared in 1766 and the topic was discussed various bodies until 1796 the
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level.
Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...
which originally resolved to erect a stone bridge. However technical difficulties led to an iron bridge being erected. This enabled the road to be raised above the surrounding terrain, something particularly important in the context of periodic floods in the rainy season.
It used the same technology developed for
The Iron Bridge
The Iron Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire, England. Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron. Its success inspired the widespread use of cast iron as a str ...
in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
, England,
and indeed constituted the first application of this technology outside the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. The iron components were pre-fabricated in
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
with a total weight of . It took 43 horse-drawn wagons to transport these from the coast to the construction site.
The bridge remained in use until 2000, when erosion by storm water put its future survival in jeopardy. However, funds were raised for a restoration project which restored the bridge for use by 2010.
See also
*
List of rivers of Jamaica
This is a list of rivers of Jamaica, arranged from west to east, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name.
North Coast
* South Negril River
**Unnamed
*Middle River
**Unnamed
**Unnamed
* North Negril River
*Orange Rive ...
References
General bibliography
GEOnet Names Server*
OMC MapCIA Map*Ford, Jos C. and Finlay, A. A. C. (1908).''The Handbook of Jamaica.'' Jamaica Government Printing Office
Citations
External links
Aerial view of mouth
{{Authority control
Rivers of Jamaica
Cast-iron arch bridges
