![Split bridge Spon Lane top lock 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Split_bridge_Spon_Lane_top_lock_2.jpg)
A roving bridge, changeline bridge, turnover bridge, or snake bridge
[William George Victor Balchin, ed., ''The Country Life Book of the Living History of Britain'', 1983, , p. 109] is a bridge over a canal constructed to allow a horse towing a boat to cross the canal when the
towpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport ...
changes sides. This often involved unhitching the tow line, but on some canals they were constructed so that there was no need to do this by placing the two ramps on the same side of the bridge (see middle photo), which turned the horse through 360 degrees. On the
Macclesfield Canal
The Macclesfield Canal is a canal in east Cheshire, England. There were various proposals for a canal to connect the town of Macclesfield to the national network from 1765 onwards, but it was not until 1824 that a scheme came to fruition. There ...
this was achieved by building spiral ramps and on the
Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England. The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the ...
and others by constructing roving bridges of iron in two
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...
ed halves, leaving a slot in the middle for the tow rope. This was also called a split bridge. For cost reasons many ordinary Stratford bridges were also built in this way as they had no towpath.
Bridges were also necessary at canal junctions and where the towpath was interrupted by side arms. These are strictly speaking side bridges, but they are often referred to as roving bridges. Well-known ones occur at
Hawkesbury Junction
Hawkesbury Junction or Sutton Stop () is a canal junction in England, at the northern limit of the Oxford Canal where it meets the Coventry Canal, near Hawkesbury Village, Warwickshire, between Bedworth and Coventry. The alternative name, Su ...
and
Haywood Junction
Haywood Junction (), or Great Haywood Junction, is the name of the Junction (canal), canal junction where the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal terminates and meets the Trent and Mersey Canal near to the village of Great Haywood, Staffordsh ...
. The
Birmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) is a network of canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country. The BCN is connected to the rest of the English canal system at several junctions. It was owned and oper ...
has many examples, mainly of cast iron, which took the towpaths across factory arms.
The ramps of the bridge are typically studded with alternating rows of protruding bricks to prevent the feet of the horse from sliding. The bridge may be constructed of cast iron (particularly in industrial areas) or of more conventional brick or stone.
See also
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Canals of the United Kingdom
The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's ro ...
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History of the British canal system
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
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Mule ramp
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Spiral bridge
A spiral bridge, loop bridge, helix bridge, or pigtail bridge is a road bridge which loops over its own road, allowing the road to climb rapidly. This is useful in steep terrain, or where the approach road to a bridge would terminate too far from ...
References
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Water transport infrastructure
Canals
Bridges by mode of traffic
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