Qvarnbro (Espoon manor bridge I[1]) is a stone bridge in Espoo, Espoonkartano district.
Its history is well documented. It was completed by no later than January 1778.[2] . Qvarnbro is considered to be the oldest extant bridge iIn Finland. It was built in the dry stone technique, meaning that the stones were fitted in place without the use of the mortar.
The bridge is located on the old King's Road from Vyborg to Turku, on the place where a wooden bridge existed previously. The construction of the stone bridge was part of a construction project started by Anders Henrik Ramsay in 1775, which also included a new mill built by the manor. The construction was supervised by an expert from Stockholm.[3]
The total length of Qvarnbro is 10.4 metres, and the stone vault width is 3.3 meters. The bridge has a useful width of 6.5 meters. The underpass height is 0.4 metres.[4]
The vicinity of the Espoo Manor is included by the Finnish Heritage Agency in the list of Nationally Significant Cultural Environments (RKY).[5]
The Qvarnbro bridge is not to be mixed with the nearby Sågbro bridge[6] which is situated in about 60 meters from the Qvarnbro bridge.
At the Espoo Manor, the rapids in Mankinjoki river are called Kartanonkoski, and the river divides into two streams. Qvarnbro runs above the eastern stream. Downstream of the bridge is a mill. The view of the bridge vault is blocked by concrete structures on the upstream side and the downstream view is blocked by a mill.[7]