When I showed you a wider view of this canal bridge back in February, I promised that I would say something about the design of the arch when we got to "S"!
A skew bridge is one which crosses at an angle other than a simple right angle. When this bridge was built in around 1797, engineers were still trying to perfect the art of building skew bridges, so this is a fairly early attempt. If you look at the larger view (by clicking on the photo) you can see that the courses of brick at the side of the bridge are horizontal, with a distinct boundary where they meet the bricks forming the roof arch, which are "winding courses" laid in a helicoidal fashion, perpendicular to the outside face of the bridge. Some of the photos here will explain this.
The first perfectly constructed skew bridge in the country, where all the bricks are laid in winding courses, with none laid horizontally, was built only a few miles away at March Barn Bridge on the Rochdale Canal in 1797. This design has a lot more strength than earlier attempts.
(Click photo for larger version. Press Back button to return here.)
See Bird's Eye View of this location.
"Skew Bridge" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "S" posts from around the world please follow this link.
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That is fascinating. I have never seen one or even dreamed they could do such a thing.
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