South Portland Street Suspension Bridge Explained

The South Portland Street Suspension Bridge is a suspension-type footbridge across the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland linking the City Centre on the north side to the Laurieston and Gorbals districts on the south side.

The bridge, made from wrought iron with arched sandstone towers at either end, has a suspension span of ;[1] the bridge deck is wide. It was built between 1851 and 1853, replacing a temporary wooden bridge on the same site (used from 1832 to 1846) designed by Robert Stevenson.[1] [2] Its structure was modified in 1871 and it has been refurbished on several further occasions, including repair work by Sir William Arrol & Co. in 1926.[1]

The bridge is so named due to being the continuation of South Portland Street in Laurieston; however it is perpendicular to the better-known Carlton Place[3] (a well-preserved cobbled street of Georgian terraces dating from the early 1800s) and so is sometimes known as Carlton Place Bridge or simply Glasgow Suspension Bridge although there is another bridge of this type upstream nearby. Both the bridge[4] and the buildings of Carlton Place[5] are category A listed.

External links

55.855°N -4.2556°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: South Portland Street Suspension Footbridge . Canmore.org.uk. 18 November 2016.
  2. Web site: Robert Stevenson (ODNB Biography section) . Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. 9 August 2017.
  3. Web site: Carlton Place . The Glasgow Story . 18 November 2016.
  4. Web site: Clyde Street and South Portland Street, Suspension Bridge . Historic Environment Scotland. 9 August 2017.
  5. Web site: 40-61 Carlton Place and 16 Nicholson Street . Historic Environment Scotland. 9 August 2017.