154. Pont Julien

Heather and I spent the weekend of 20 October in Avignon with a wonderful group of enthusiasts for old bridges. The main subjects of interest were Pont Saint-Bénézet (Pont d’Avignon) itself, Pont du Gard, and Pont Saint Esprit. I’ll get to each of those over the next few months. This time, I'm looking at Pont Julien, a well preserved Roman bridge dated to 3 BCE, which we took in as a side trip on the way back to the airport.

152. Dry stone bridge, Duddon Valley

That end of August trip took us to the wonderful Duddon Valley in the Lake District. The area is littered with masonry bridges, but not many got enough attention to make it into Bridge of the Month. This little one, built 30 years ago by the owners of the house we stayed in, is worth a look.

149. A702/Westwater, West Linton

Our Easter travels took us to West Linton, a rich vein to mine as far as bridges of the month are concerned. First up, the bridge carrying the A702, the main road from the west borders to Edinburgh, over Westwater. It is a fine bridge in its own right, but of special interest because it was closed by severe flood damage in January 2023.

145. Pontsarn Viaduct

Pontsarn Viaduct, on the edge of Merthyr Tydfil, was built in the 1860s to carry the Brecon and Merthyr Railway over the Afon Taf Fechan, which flows here in a fairly steep sided valley. It is a spectacular structure, in need of some TLC.

144. AKC/99 Rugley Railway Bridge

A visit to friends in beautiful Northumberland gave the opportunity to visit one of the "at risk" Historic Railways Estate bridges. A fine skew bridge carrying a little-trafficked lane over the former Alnwick to Corhill (Coldstream) line, AKC/99 Rugley Railway Bridge was the subject of an odd assessment claiming a 3 tonne GVW limit, but shows no load related damage. Surely some mistake?

143. A bridge in Exeter Cathedral

In 2003, Bill had a large part of his pancreas removed, in an operation that ten years earlier would have been impossible. While “convalescing”, he designed and led construction of an unusual bridge. Off-site construction methods meant final build could be be undertaken in about an hour, and without centring. Careful design and use of jigs meant even the off-site work could be undertaken using domestic tools and enthusiastic but non-professional labour.

142. Bill Harvey

Bridge of the Month 142 is Bill Harvey himself, in the form of a short autobiography written by Bill a few months ago. This concentrates on the personal and family side of his life, which will be less familiar to BoM readers than his professional achievements. The latter are also more likely to be covered elsewhere.