Spean Bridge Over River Spean

The Spean Bridge, built over the River Spean in 1819, was designed by Thomas Telford. It was widened in 1932 by Mears and Carus Wilson, Architects. The bridge is a high, three-arch structure constructed of squared, dressed rubble with tooled ashlar dressings, with a concrete widening concealed within the original stonework. The central arch is a wide, high segmental head with tooled ashlar, flanked by triangular cutwaters that rise to the full height of the bridge as shallow, giant pilasters, and lower, round-headed arch rings at the outer sides. A high parapet of dressed rubble is topped with a tooled squared ashlar coping stone. The bridge replaced General Wade's High Bridge of 1736, located further downstream. The widening occurred on the northeastern side of the bridge. References to the bridge appear in Thomas Telford’s Autobiographical Atlas (1838) and John Hume’s Industrial Archaeology of Scotland (1977).