Spey Bridge, Newtonmore

Heritage listing

Category B Date Added 05/10/1971 Local Authority Highland Planning Authority Highland Parish Kingussie And Insh National Park Cairngorms NGR NN 70876 98015 Coordinates 270876, 798015 — Sir Owen Williams (engineer) with Maxwell Ayrton (architect), 1925-26. Long, 3-arched reinforced concrete Modern-Movement bridge; arches decreasing in height and span from S to N. Segmentally shuttered arches swept to form triangular cutwaters with inclined piers. Canted end piers containing refuges. Bridge slopes from higher ground at S bank to N. — Sir Owen Williams, one of the most celebrated engineers of the modern movement era of design, was commissioned to design a number of landmark bridges along the route of the A9 road in the Highlands, working with the architect Maxwell Ayrton. Designed and built between 1924 and 1928, the bridges combine imaginative aesthetics with innovative structural design in reinforced concrete. Williams is thought to have conceived these bridges to resemble alien forms within the landscape, yet having aged and weathered the bridges now blend quite naturally with their surroundings. There were eight bridges by Williams on the A9, the others being 2 twin arch bridges at Loch Alvie and Crubenmore, larger bridges at Dalnamein and over the Findhorn at Tomatin, and a small single-span bridge also at Dalnamein (all listed seperately). Small bridges at Aviemore and Brora have been remodelled and remain unlisted.

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.