Monk Bridge
Carries Whitehall Road across the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Aire.
The Original Bridge
This consisted of a through-arch bridge with suspended deck spanning the river, an elliptical arch over the canal, and two land arches over the footpaths. The arches were assembled from iron castings, with ball and socket bearings at the springing.
The ironwork was designed and constructed by George Leather in 1826-7. However it has been suggested that the design came from the Bowling Iron Co.[1]. See 1883 entry below.
An 1833 description and illustration of the similar Hunslet Suspension Bridge are available here.[2].
1883 The Whitehall Road Bridge was advertised for sale by Leeds Borough in 1883. Clear span 106 ft. Total width 37 ft 6". Total rise of arched ribs 26 ft. Total weight of cast iron 169 tons 4 cwt, wrought iron 2 tons. 'This bridge was designed by Mr Leather, civil engineer, of Leeds, and constructed by the Bowling Iron Works the year 1837. is cast iron arched ribbed bridge, with the roadway mostly underneath, and suspended from the two cast iron ribs. These arched bound the carriage way. the footpath being carried on the projecting ends of the cross girders on cantilevers. Except near the abutments, where the road above the ribs, the whole floor carried by wrought iron rods suspended from the The floor consists of cast iron girders, attached to the ends of the wrought iron suspension rods, and carrying cast iron longitudinal girders, which in their turn carry cast iron floor plates. Thus, the whole superstructure, with the exception of the wrought iron suspension rods, is of cast iron. The bridge has been carefully examined, and has been found to be in perfect order, although not originally designed for the very heavy loads the streets of Leeds have now to carry. , Steam road rollers weighing 16 tons and traction engines still heavier frequently pass over the bridge. The tenders must be forwarded the Town Clerk's Office, addressed to the chairman of the Highway Committee, and endorsed "Tender for Purchese of Iron Bridge." THOMAS HEWSON, M.I.C.E., Borough Engineer, Town Hall, Leeds, March, 1883.'[3]
The Present Bridge
By the 1880s the bridge could no longer cope with the increasing volume of traffic and a new bridge was built by the Leeds Corporation. This was designed by Thomas Hewson, the Borough Engineer, and the river span was of iron lattice girder construction, with a span of 109ft. Rows of cast iron owls lined the parapet, and the Leeds coat of arms was carved on the stone pillars either side of the bridge. The bridge over the canal was also replaced with an iron structure, with the Leeds coat of arms cast into the ironwork.[4]
1886 'At the request of Ald. Firth, the Town Clerk gave some details with respect to the old Monk Bridge and to the new. The former structure was erected in 1827, at a cost of £4,000, by the Leeds mild Whitehall Trust, and purchased by the Leeds Corporation in 1866. ..... The old bridge would only carry four tons. Its span was 107ft. 9in.; headwway, 15ft. 3iin.; area, 1272 square feet. The now one is a lattice parapet girder bridge. The whole weight is carried by two main girders, which, rising above the roadway, form the parapets along the outside edge of the footpaths. Upon the bottom boom of these main girders rest wrought-iron fish-bellied girders, crossing the full width of the street at every 6ft. Upon these cross girders are laid at right angles and so parallel with the main girders light wrought iron longitudinal firders 3ft. apart. Thus the cross girders and longitudinal girders being laid, the whole surface of the bridge is divided into oblong spaces 6ft. by 3ft., and over the spaces, and resting on the cross longitudinal girders, are placed wrought iron buckled plates. The dimensions are - main span, 109ft.; headway, 13ft. 3in, ; area, 1,310 square feet; width of roadway, 42ft.; main girders, 120ft. by 13ft.; cross griders, 46ft. by 3ft. 6in.; longitudinal girders, 3ft. by 8in.; weight of each main girder, 69 tons; weight of each cross girder, 4 tons 6 cwt.; total weight of iron, 316 tons 8 1/2 cwt. The Canal Bridge consists of cast-iron arched ribs, 6ft. apart and 4ft. 1in. rise. The parapets are formed of cast-iron plate girders. The contract amounted to £9,439, and the actual expendituire to £9,557. The period for the repayment of the money borrowed for the work is thirty years. The annual charge for principal and interest is £450. The contractors were - masonry, Messrs. Whitaker Bros., Horsforth; ironwork, Messrs. Butler and Sons, Stanningley. ....'[5]
Figs 2 - 5 show the span across the River Aire. Originally an attempt had been made to make this lattice girder bridge look less utilitarian by attaching owl-themed appendages to the top chord, and by disguising the lattice structure by overlaying decorative castings having circle/star/rope motifs. The iron owls have gone.
Figs 6 & 7 show the span across the canal. The masonry pillars resemble those of the river span, but there the resemblance ends. The architect has defied convention by making the most prominent part from plain flat plates, while the less prominent part supporting the roadway has more attractive cast iron arches. The 1886 report states that 'The parapets are formed of cast-iron plate girders'. The parapet girders are clearly riveted wrought iron or steel, not cast iron now. Have they been changed? Looking at the construction details in Fig 7 suggests otherwise.
See Also
Sources of Information
- The land we live in, a pictorial and literary sketch-book of the British empire, published by Charles Knight, London, 1847