Wellington Suspension Bridge

Aberdeen was undergoing rapid expansion in the early 19th century and landowners in Torry, the Menzies family of Pitfodels, wished to capitalise on the opportunities arising from the establishment of the turnpike road between Aberdeen and Stonehaven in 1799. A series of legal disputes as to exact ownership of the lands ended in arbitration. An Act of Parliament was eventually obtained by the Heritors of Nigg and the Road Trustees in 1828 for a bridge to replace the Craiglug Ferry. The City Architect in Aberdeen John Smith and his rival Archibald Simpson were asked to tender design proposals for the bridge and its approach roads from the north and south side in June 1829. The design for the…

Pairs of bar-link saddle chains one above another with suspender rods hold the deck, which is 220 ft in length and 22 ft wide. }} Thomas Telford's method of "three lines of rectangular cross-section eye-bar links with short connecting links and cross-bolted" was copied from his 1822 Menai Suspension Bridge construction. The chains were installed on either side of the deck, one above the other with a dip of 18 ft, giving a span ratio of 1:12. James Slight described the bridge as "the strongest bridge that Capt. Brown has yet erected" and he assessed the highest chain stress was around "812 tons sq. in. and all the bars were proved to 9 tons sq. in." The chains bear the stamp "Cable TF&S" and…