Stone Bridge 63 On The Rochdale Canal – Rochdale, UK - Arch Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Canal History
The Rochdale canal is 32 miles long and connects Manchester on the west side of the Pennine Hills and Sowerby Bridge on the east side. It was completed in 1804 and is one of three canals that cross the Pennine hills. This is the only one that doesn’t use tunnels. In addition it was a broad canal with bridges and locks that allowed boats of 14 feet width to pass through.

Competition from railways and roads subsequently led to a decline in goods being carried and by 1937 the only section left in operation was at the Manchester end of the canal.

In 1965 there was talk of abandoning the canal but by this time leisure boating had become very popular in the UK and there was a campaign to keep it open. Work was started to repair the canal and the whole length finally reopened in September 2007. As well as leisure boats, the canal attracts lots of walkers and cyclists along the tow path.

Details of this bridge
Bridge 63 is also known as March Barn Bridge and is listed by English Heritage as scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. link

The listing tells us that "March Barn Bridge, designed by William Jessop in 1797, is the first true 'skew' bridge in England. It was based on an earlier design by William Chapman for bridges on the Kildare Canal in Ireland.

When a bridge crossed a road or canal at right-angles, the load could be transmitted to the foundations easily. But when built at an angle of 15 degrees or more, the force was thrown outside the line of the abutments, leading to weakness in the bridge. Chapman solved the problem by building the arch using winding courses of masonry, a method which was difficult but effective."

At the time the canal was constructed canal boats were not powered but towed by horses. The canal bends slightly at this point and there are grooves in the stones of the bridge created by the tow ropes rubbing against them.

Although the canal passes through a wooded area there are actually factories on both sides of the canal. However these days the bridge only connects the canal towpath with Bow Street and is no longer used for road traffic.

According to the Pennine Waterways website about the canal the standard height of bridges along this canal is 8 feet 11 inches (2.7 metres). This is stated part way through this page which shows work carried out during renovation in 2002.

Height of bridge: 8ft 11in What type of traffic does this bridge support?: bike, pedestrians What kind of gap does this bridge cross?: The Rochdale Canal Date constructed: 1/1/1804 Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: No - now restricted to vehicles but still in use as a footpath Name of road or trail the bridge services: Connects the canal towpath to Bow Street Location: Rochdale, Greater Manchester Length of bridge: Not listed

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