Lothian Bridge

Lothian Bridge is a lofty five-arch masonry viaduct which carries the A68 Trunk Road over the Tyne Water a quarter-mile (0.5 km) northwest of Pathhead. Built 1827-31, this impressive structure was the work of Thomas Telford (1757 - 1834) on his turnpike road between Dalkeith and Greenlaw. It is rather similar in design to his contemporaneous Dean Bridge in Edinburgh. The bridge was Category-A listed in 1971. Extending to around 120m (390 feet) in length and reaching 27.5m (90 feet) in height, it was constructed of sandstone ashlar at a cost of £8500 and features massive flaring buttresses. While the main arches are semi-circular, footpaths on either side of the bridge are supported on shallower supplementary segmental arches, an architectural device used by Telford which was intended to give the bridge a less massive appearance. The foundations proved a challenge; the sediment in the valley proved to be of such depth that the bridge could not be built on bedrock and buried platforms of logs and stone were used.

This bridge should not be confused with Lothianbridge Viaduct at Newtongrange.


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