South Esk Bridge
This entry relates of a succession of road bridges over the South Esk in Montrose.
The first bridge was a timber trestle structure built between 1794 and 1796.
The second bridge at this site was a chain suspension bridge designed by Samuel Brown and opened in 1828. It had a suspended span of 432 ft. It suffered two partial failures (in 1830 and 1838). After the second failure J. M. Rendel reconditioned the bridge, and inhibited deck oscillation by introducing substantial timber trussing.
1930 Sir Owen Williams and Partners completed a replacement bridge: a double cantilever reinforced concrete bridge of unappealing appearance, bearing a passing resemblance to the shape of a suspension bridge. See 1931 illustration.
The concrete bridge was closed in 2004 due to decay. Repairs had been carried out, involving the fitting of clamps to address splitting and covers to restrict water ingress.[1]
The above information is largely condensed from the Canmore entry.
2005 The present was completed in 2005. It has curved steel beams and a concrete deck. Balfour Beatty were the engineers.[2]. Balfour Beatty subcontracted Harland and Wolff to fabricate, paint and install the 700 tonne steel structure. The beams were shipped from Belfast and installed using the crane barge 'Mersey Mammoth'[3]
The South Esk Viaduct (Montrose) and Rossie Island Viaduct are nearby.
See Bridgemeister entry for illustrations of the suspension bridge.