Union Suspension Bridge (That Part In England)

The Union Suspension Bridge, located in England, is a suspension bridge built between 1819 and 1820 by Captain Samuel Brown of the Royal Navy, with advice from John Rennie. It was improved and strengthened by J A Bean for the Tweed Bridge Trustees from 1902 to 1903. The bridge features sandstone ashlar piers and an iron roadway with a wooden surface.

The timber carriageway spans the River Tweed, suspended from three pairs of swept, wrought iron chains made of elongated eye bar links. A later addition of a steel cable provides additional strengthening.

On the west side, which is the Scottish side, there is a tall, battered, rusticated pier made of pink sandstone. This pier has a keystoned round arch for the roadway, a bold dentilled cornice, and a high blocking course that carries the cables. An iron inscription in the blocking course reads "VIS UNITA FORTIOR 1820," meaning "United Strength is Stronger," and features intertwined roses and thistles. The pier at the English end is built into the cliff and is also made of pink sandstone, displaying similar rustication and two stages. The lower stage has a pilastered doorway with a modillion cornice that surrounds a bronze memorial plaque from 1902. This stage also features a modillion cornice. The battered upper stage has a dentilled cornice and a high blocking course with a similar iron inscription and intertwined roses and thistles as seen on the west side pier.

Rectangular-plan pink sandstone piers flank the carriageway to the west, connected by rubble-coped rubble walls to the east. Pyramidal-capped, square-plan pink sandstone piers also flank the carriageway to the west of the eastern pylon, with rubble-coped rubble walls to the east.