Portland Street Suspension Bridge, River Clyde, South Portland Street, Glasgow is a Grade A listed building in the local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 6 July 1966. Bridge.
Portland Street Suspension Bridge, River Clyde, South Portland Street, Glasgow
- WRENN ID
- keen-cupola-tide
- Grade
- A
- Local Planning Authority
- Constituency
- Glasgow East MP: John Grady (Lab)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 6 July 1966
- Type
- Bridge
- OS grid reference
- NS 589 647
- Coordinates
- 55.85499, -4.25555
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
The Portland Street Suspension Bridge, located over the River Clyde in Glasgow, was designed by architect Alexander Kirkland and engineer George Martin. It was originally built between 1851 and 1853 to replace an early 19th-century timber footbridge. The wrought-ironwork was rebuilt in 1871 by Bell and Miller to lower the camber and increase the dip by 7 feet.
This suspension bridge features a single span of 414 feet. Its pylons are designed as classical triumphal archways, made up of fluted Ionic columns in antis, flanked by paired Doric pilasters on the bridge face, all crafted from polished honey-colored sandstone. The central arch includes a moulded archivolt and keystone, supporting an entablature with a deep plain frieze and cornice, topped with a blocking course. The chains emerge through the frieze.
The bridge deck consists of wrought-iron lattice girders, suspended by two pairs of 4 and 5 bar flat link chains. The walkway is surfaced with tarmac, and the parapet is made of thin latticework wrought-iron. Additionally, the bridge retains some of its original cast-iron lamp brackets.
Local climate
Portland Street Suspension Bridge, River Clyde, South Portland Street, Glasgow sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,290 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 94% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 83% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 56 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 95% of listed buildings. Of these, 32 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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