The River Cart Aqueduct, sometimes known as the Blackhall Bridge, is a

railway bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), 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, whic ...

and former

navigable aqueduct Navigable aqueducts (sometimes called water bridges) are bridge structures that carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railways or roads. They are primarily distinguished by their size, carrying a larger cross-section of wa ...

Paisley, Renfrewshire Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wate ...

, Scotland. It opened in 1811 as an aqueduct to carry the

Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal The Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal, later known as the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal, was a canal in the west of Scotland, running between Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone which later became a railway. Despite the name, the canal w ...

over the

White Cart Water The River Cart ( sco, River Cairt) is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank. The River Cart itself is very short, being f ...

. Following the closure of the canal in 1881, it was converted to a railway bridge in 1885, and now carries the Paisley Canal Line. It is registered as a

Category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

History

The aqueduct was built between 1808 and 1810, and opened in 1811 to carry the

. John Rennie and

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

were involved in the engineering process. The contractor was John Simpson and the cost of construction was £5,440. The canal was closed in 1881, and converted to run the Paisley Canal Line, which opened in 1885.

Design

It is a freestone masonry segmental arch of span and a height over the water of about . The bridge is probably the longest span masonry aqueduct of the canal age on a British canal, and one of the world's earliest bridges carrying a public railway. It was widened to carry the double track railway, and the line crosses the bridge at a slight skew because of the easing of the sharp canal curvature.Roland Paxton and Jim Shipway, ''Civil; Engineering Heritage: Scotland, Lowlands and Borders'', Thomas Telford Limited, London, 2007, Jean Lindsay, ''The Canals of Scotland'', David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1968, When the aqueduct carried the canal, it was only the width of a single boat, making it necessary to wait for another boat to pass at times.

References

External links

*{{commonscat-inline Railway bridges in Scotland Transport in Renfrewshire Aqueducts in Scotland Bridges completed in 1811 Category A listed buildings in Renfrewshire Buildings and structures in Paisley, Renfrewshire 1811 establishments in Scotland

History

Design

See also

References

External links