OLD TURN/DEEP CUTTING JUNCTION, Birmingham 1825 N52o 28' 44.4" W1o 54' 52.8"
There are two bridges at this junction on the Birmingham Canal Navigation in the heart of downtown beside the Sea Life Center (whose coordinates are above) James Brindley's original canal of 1769 was improved by Thomas Telford in the late 1820's by straightening the canal and eliminating some of the locks. To do this, he cut through the loops of the old canal which followed the contour lines and lowered the new canal to join the lowest level of the old canal by making (deep) cuttings. The result was a number of junctions between the old and the new lines which all required roving bridges.
This junction is at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Not only were the ore and coal and finished iron products transported on this canal, but nearby were the Soho Works of James Watt and Matthew Boulton where their precision, high pressure steam engines were made and shipped all over the world.
Thomas Telford designed a handsome elliptical curved footbridge which the Horseley Iron Works cast. Versions of this bridge are represented here and all over the Birmingham Canal Navigation and other canal systems. One of those here looks very modern, but is marked "Horseley Iron Works Staffordshire 1827" Another is delightfully detailed with 'gothic' cutouts and an XXX design in the parapet.