Monument record MHG49650 - Inverness, Whin Park, Reconstructed Suspension Bridge

NMRS Report: (15/06/2006 12:04:00)
NH64SE 377 c. 6589 4338

Formerly input as NH64NE 772.

For (replacement and successor) Bught Road, General's Well Bridge, see NH64SE 50.

The original General's Well Bridge formerly carried a footpath over the W channel of the River Ness to the NW of the S end of the Ness Islands, at NH c. 6611 4361. It has been reconstructed to carry a miniature railway across a dry gully within the area of Whin Park.
The location of this rebuilt structure cannot be ascertained with certainty from the available map and air photographic evidence. The current edition of the OS (GIS) AIB notes a miniature railway built on an oval plan around NH 6589 4338, on the NW bank of the River Ness.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 15 June 2006.
G Nelson 1990. <1>

The original General's Well Bridge (see MHG15801) was one of a twin, with Bank Road Bridge (see MHG3763) located on the far bank.
The two bridges were designed by James Dredge in 1853. They replaced earlier bridges which were put up in 1839 so that the islands could (as was reported in the local newspaper) 'be laid out in graceful and varied walks' which would 'form a lasting ornament to the town, a powerful attraction to strangers, and a source of healthful recreation and enjoyment to the inhabitants'. These bridges fell in 1849.
Dredge worked at a period when many designers were experimenting with suspension bridges. On this small bridge the rods are diagonal to the pylons, and that the iron ribbon of cables lessens in width as each rod is linked into the deck. Starting with 6 it reduces to 5-4-3-2. In the centre there is a short double span. In effect the cable and rods are supporting the cantilevered deck and, as there is successively less weight to carry, the tension member can be reduced in size. None of the measurements on this bridge are very uniform. The curved lateral girders under the deck are not equidistantly spaced. The overall length when in situ over the Ness was 97 feet 3 inches. Its twin (now scrapped), the Island Bank Road Bridge, was slightly shorter at 83 feet. <2>