Victoria Bridge

Victoria Bridge is built on the site of the first recorded bridge over the Clyde; a timber bridge believed to exist in 1285 and described as "Glaskow bryg, that byggt was of tre" in Henry the Minstrel's epic poem on Sir William Wallace. In 1345 Bishop William Rae replaced the timber bridge with the Bishop's Bridge, located on the same site. Bishop's Bridge was originally 12 ft wide, but was widened by 10 ft in 1777. By 1851 Glasgow's population had risen to 329,000 having doubled in the previous 25 years and the old bridge couldn't cope with current demands, and needed to be replaced.

A new masonry arch bridge was designed by James Walker and constructed by William Scott, although some references name William York, Esquire as the builder. The bridge has five segmental arches which vary in span from 20.4 metres to the widest in the center, which measures 24.4 m wide. The construction replaced Bishop's bridge, with foundations six metres below those of the old bridge, and timber piles which were steam-driven a further four metres below that. Named after Queen Victoria, when the bridge opened in 1854, Glasgow had one of the two widest bridges in Britain – London's widest at that time was only 54 ft. The bridge is one way city-bound with two lanes. However, it also has a…