Leaderfoot Viaduct

[low_delta]

I found this bridge on Google Maps, and had hoped I'd be able to see it. It turned out we had some free time on Tuesday morning, before Abbotsford opened.


Leaderfoot Viaduct is an old railroad bridge that crosses the River Tweed. It was built in 1863, and its use ended in 1965. It's 166 feet high, from the river, and the arches are 43 feet wide. It was renovated in the early 1990's.




Next to Leaderfoot Viaduct is Drygrange bridge. Built in 1780, it was in use until the new bridge was completed, in 1973.


It shows its age, but it's still holding together. I didn't enhance these colors much.


At the entrance to the bridge, there are some benches with river poetry carved on them.




It was windy, but otherwise, the weather was good.

Comments

[parlet.livejournal.com]

Your photographs are amazing!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[hinterland.livejournal.com]

Drygrange bridge is so much more beautiful than the new one. The colours are amazing. And the viaduct is spectacular!

[lacachet.livejournal.com]

Amazing, isn't it, when you think of the human effort put into building those bridges, with very little in the way of "modern" machinery.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd like to see how they did it.

Bridge

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

That's really cool. And the close-up with the color is pretty spectacular.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

The viaduct bridge (I keep wanting to say aqueduct bridge because it looks like a very stylized Roman aqueduct) is wonderful!Is that your car I see parked through the arch?

The contrast between the old and new bridges is cool but I really want to knock the new one down and use the old one again though I suppose it's a new road as well.

Love the close-up!

No wonder you liked the gorge bridge in Ronda so much.
;)

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Just to be clear, when I said the old one was in use until the new one was built, the "new one" is the box girder bridge behind it in picture 3. So if you're saying that you want to knock down Leaderfoot Viaduct in favor of Drygrange Bridge, I'd have to disagree. (Leaderfoot is a railroad bridge.)

But even so, I'd still rather keep the ugly one, and preserve the old one. Not only that, but the disadvantage to the beauty of the old one is that you can't see it when you're on it.

Not our car. This one was just driving through.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

No...I must have expressed myself badly. I love both older bridges. The modern one was obvious and that's the one I dislike. It's just your generic box girder bridge...looks out of place behind the old one.
I know...progress and all that.
True though, about not seeing the beauty of a bridge you're actually driving on unless it's a huge suspension bridge.
:)

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I agree with the others who said that they prefer the old bridge. It seems like the new bridge is so sterile and wasted a lot of materials. It is much too big! The old one was grand!

I also see the new one as an updated Roman Viaduct.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Leaderfoot Viaduct is a railroad bridge. Trains can't go up and down hills like cars can, so they had to keep it high, and also cut into the hills on either side of the river.

There are few differences between the two, besides their size. Drygrange has carved decorations on the sides. Drygrange has little outcroppings between the arches. Possibly for toll collectors. Drygrange has a stone railing, and it slopes upwards toward the middle.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

Awww... I see then. I just like the old colors and carvings.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely. It's a lot more interesting. Prettier than the the somewhat-newer one (I was probably overstating the similarities). I like them both though, and for different reasons. I like the engineering achievement of the bigger one, and the efficiency (efficiency is grace!).

[mummm.livejournal.com]

You are right.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Inefficient and dangerous? ;-)

[promiseoftin.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous!

[ravenfeather.livejournal.com]

Drygrange bridge is GORGEOUS!