White Cart Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 55°52′48″N4°24′33″W / 55.8800°N 4.4091°W |
Carries | Motor vehicles, cycles, pedestrians |
Crosses | White Cart Water |
Locale | Renfrew |
Owner | Renfrewshire council |
Heritage status | Category A listed |
Characteristics | |
Design | Bascule bridge |
No. of spans | 1 |
History | |
Designer | Sir William Arrol |
Constructed by | Sir William Arrol & Co |
Opened | 1923 |
Replaces | Old White Cart Bridge |
Location | |
White Cart Bridge is a Scherzer rolling lift bascule bridge situated on the A8 road in Renfrew, Scotland. The bridge crosses White Cart Water at the confluence with the Black Cart River. It is one of only two remaining Scherzer type rolling lift bridges in the country, the other being 'the Queenie' at Peterhead Harbour, and became category A listed on 13 December 1994. [1] [2] [3] [4] The bridge is still capable of opening, as the Doosan Babcock factory in Renfrew requires the capability to move large loads by river.
The White Cart and Black Cart Rivers have been an important crossing site for many years. Initially, people forded the rivers and latterly, a ferry was used to make the crossing. A bridge built in 1759 was a seven-arch bridge, crossing both rivers, but was washed away in 1809. Two separate bridges, still in use today, were built in 1812 as a replacement for the crossing. The new bridges could not accommodate large ships sailing into Paisley. [5] [2] [6]
A new section of river bypassing the low bridge was completed by 1838, requiring a new bridge to cross the White Cart. Initially, a swing bridge was used to make the crossing. It was replaced by the lift bridge in 1923. The name "swing bridge" has remained locally, though the bridge lifts, rather than swings. [2] [3] The original channel bypassed by the cut under the new bridge gradually silted up, and the old bridge is now landlocked. [7]
The bridge was designed by Scottish civil engineer William Bertram Hall working for William Arrol & Co, who built some of the most famous bridges in the United Kingdom, including the Forth Bridge and Tower Bridge. They were responsible for the construction of the bridge at Renfrew. [3]
In August 2004, a £1m restoration project in connection with Historic Scotland took place. This involved renewing all the mechanical components and resurfacing the road. The bridge was also painted red and cream and had new lights installed. [8]
A film [9] and poem [10] were commissioned to mark the centenary of the bridge completion in March 2023, and in May 2024 the bridge was awarded a red wheel plaque [11] and listing with the National Transport Trust. [12]
Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or double-leafed.
Inchinnan is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and Greenock, just south east of the town of Erskine.
Paisley and Renfrewshire North is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election, replacing most of Paisley North and Renfrewshire West.
The River Cart 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 Gryfe is a river and tributary of the Black Cart Water, running through the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It gives its name to the surrounding Gryffe Valley, also known as Strathgryfe.
India of Inchinnan is now a commercial site in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland, that was formerly used for various industrial uses. It includes the former office block of India Tyres of Inchinnan - a Category A listed building in the art deco style, designed in 1930 by Thomas Wallis of Wallis, Gilbert and Partners. The office block was similar in style to Wallis, Gilbert and Partners' Hoover Building in Perivale, London.
The Market Street Bridge, officially referred to as the John Ross Bridge, is a bascule bridge that spans the Tennessee River between downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Northshore District. It carries North Market Street, and was named in honor of Cherokee Chief John Ross. The bridge was completed in 1917 at a cost of $1.1 million. In the mid-1970s, the southern terminus of US 127 was moved several miles north to the intersection of Dayton Boulevard and Signal Mountain Boulevard in the nearby suburb of Red Bank.
The North Avenue Bridge can refer to one of three bridges that has carried North Avenue over the North Branch of the Chicago River on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. A center-pier swing bridge built in 1877 was replaced in 1907 by a bascule bridge, allowing river traffic more room for maneuvering in and out of the North Canal, just north of Goose Island.
Strathgryffe or Gryffe Valley is the strath of River Gryffe, which lies within the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.
The A726 road in Scotland is a major route with several distinct sections with different characteristics and names; owing to its stages of construction, since 2005 it has two separate parts, the first running between Strathaven in South Lanarkshire and Junction 5 of the M77 motorway south of Newton Mearns in East Renfrewshire via East Kilbride, and the other running between Junction 3 of the M77 and the M898 motorway near the Erskine Bridge, via Paisley and Junction 29 of the M8 motorway near Glasgow International Airport.
The Levern Water, is a small river in East Renfrewshire and Glasgow, Scotland. It rises in the Long Loch, and flows generally north and east, past the towns of Neilston and Barrhead, for a total distance of 9 miles (14 km). It empties into the White Cart River.
Keadby Bridge, more formally known as the King George V Bridge, crosses the River Trent near Althorpe and Keadby in Lincolnshire, England. It was designed by Alfred Charles Gardner FRSE MIME.
Renfrew is a town 6 miles (10 km) west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gained royal burgh status in 1397.
William Donald Scherzer was an American engineer and inventor who invented the rolling lift bridge.
The old Rashielee Quay or Rashielie Quay (NS471709) was located on the old Lands of North Barr, situated on the south bank of the River Clyde in the Parish of Inchinnan, between Bodinbo Island and Park Quay. It was built to facilitate the loading of boats and barges with whinstone excavated from the nearby Rashielee Quarries that was brought to the quay by a horse drawn wagonway.
Newshot Island or Newshot Isle was an island about 50 acres (20 ha) in extent lying in the estuarine waters of the River Clyde close to Park Quay in the Parish of Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Due to silting, etc. it has become part of the southern, Renfrewshire side, of the river bank and is used for grazing cattle and as a nature reserve.
Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, formally established in 1996 to succeed the Renfrew district within the Strathclyde region, both of which were abolished; the headquarters are at Paisley.