BATH: SYDNEY GARDENS BRIDGES Wiltshire 1800 HEW 808 ST758 653 N51o 23’ 11.9” W2o 20’ 54.0”
Ft Br over Kennet & Avon Canal N51o 23' 11.9 W2o 20' 54.0"
John Rennie was chief engineer for the Kennet and Avon Canal when these three bridge were built over the canal, but he did not design them. They were cast at the Coalbrookdale Co.
One is a 23’ foot bridge ten feet in width with four arched cast iron ribs whose spandrels are filled with Coalbrookdale’s familiar diminishing open circle design. The parapet is simple open diamond pattern between uprights. This bridge was upgraded in 1978.
The second bridge is 30 feet spanning the canal at an oblique angle with a width of 19 feet. The face ribs are solid and there are five interior ribs of cruciform section with solid cast iron deck plates set parallel to the canal, not the skew. The parapets have an unusual design: a diamond superimposed on a cross.
The third foot bridge (N51o 23’ 9.9” W2o 20’ 56.6”) is of later date but of a design used at the time of the previous bridges. It was cast at Coalbrookdale too about 1865 to span the Great Western RR tracks.
1865 Sydney Gardens Foot Bridge, Bath. Over Great Western RR line N51o 23' 9.1" W2o 20' 56.6"
