The Kincardine Bridge is a road

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

crossing the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

from

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had ...

council area to Kincardine,

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

, Scotland.

History

The bridge was constructed between 1932 and 1936, to a design by

Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners was a British firm of consulting civil engineers, based at Queen Anne's Lodge, Queen Anne's Gate and subsequently Telford House, Tothill Street, Westminster, London, until 1974, when it relocated to Earley House, 427 ...

, Consulting Engineers, and Architect, Donald Watson. It was the first road crossing of the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of t ...

downstream of

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, completed nearly thirty years before the

Forth Road Bridge The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge opened in 1964 and at the time was the longest suspension bridge in the world outside the United States. The bridge spans the Firth of Forth, connecting Edinbur ...

, which stands to the south-east. The bridge was constructed with a swinging central section which remained in use until 1988, that would allow larger ships to sail upstream to the small port at

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot wher ...

Kincardine Bridge swing span - from Clackmannanshire Bridge in 2014

The bridge is part of the

A985 road List of A roads in zone 9 in Great Britain starting north of the A8, east of the A9 (roads beginning with 9). Single- and double-digit roads Triple-digit roads Four-digit roads See also * B roads in Zone 9 of the Great Britain numberi ...

(formerly A876), and carries a single lane in each direction. Until the opening of the

Clackmannanshire Bridge The Clackmannanshire Bridge is a road bridge over the Firth of Forth in Scotland which opened to traffic on 19 November 2008. Prior to 1 October 2008 the bridge was referred to as the upper Forth crossing while the name was chosen. Background T ...

in 2008, it was the customary diversion route for traffic north from

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and eastern Scotland when the

was closed or under repair. As a result of the additional traffic using the bridge at these times, joining the high volume of regular commuter traffic, the town of Kincardine was frequently congested.

Second bridge

The original bridge, at over 70 years old, was identified by the Scottish Executive as being in need of replacement. The new

was opened on 19 November 2008. The original bridge was given Category A listed status by

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...

in 2005, and was closed temporarily for upgrading works in 2011. With the opening of the new bridge, the Kincardine Bridge was re-numbered as part of the A985 while the new Clackmannanshire Bridge became part of the re-routed A876, forming the Kincardine bypass.

References

External links

{{Commons category
Scottish Roads Archive - The Kincardine Bridge
* ttp://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst7762.html Gazetteer for Scotlandbr>– video clip of what the new road and crossing will be like
Bridges completed in 1936 Category A listed buildings in Falkirk (council area) Swing bridges in Scotland Listed bridges in Scotland Road bridges in Scotland Bridges in Fife Category A listed buildings in Fife Bridges in Falkirk (council area) 1936 establishments in Scotland