Old Bridge - 1750 - Pontypridd, Wales - Bridge Date Stones and Plaques on Waymarking.com

The William Edwards Bridge (Old Bridge, New Bridge, Newbridge or Pontybridge Bridge)is an arched single-span footbridge that spans the River Taff, at Pontypridd, in Wales.
The date stone is set into the low wall at the peak of this foot bridge, on the inner side of the upstream wall.

The bridge date stone is engraved with the following text:-
William Edwards 1750
Repared by Edward David and Thomas Evans 1798.

"William Edwards was just 27 years of age, he was commissioned by the Hundreds of Miskin and Caerphilly to build a three-arch bridge across the River Taff. For this he was paid the sum of GB £500, on condition that he would maintain it for seven years.

The First Bridge
to be constructed was a three-arch stone bridge. It was destroyed by a heavy storm which caused the River Taff to flood later. A large amount of debris came down the river, which then become trapped against the two abutments supporting the bridge. The weight and force of the debris ultimately destroyed the bridge, which was then swept away down the river.

The Second Bridge.
After the destruction of the first bridge over the fast flowing River Taff, William Edwards decided to design a much more radical 140 ft (43 m) single-arch bridge that would eliminate the possibility of debris destroying the bridge due to the flooding of the River Taff. The second bridge was built from 1748, however two reports differ as to what actually happened during this second attempt to build the bridge. Thomas Morgan, contemporary of Edwards, said that "…when he (William Edwards) had almost finished the arch; the centre timber work gave way and all fell to the bottom." However, The National Library of Wales have a contemporary works known as the Plasybrain manuscript which says that, "Just after the first single arch was finished and before the centre was struck, a flood came and carried all away." It is not clear which one of these two accounts is the accurate one, however it is clear that Edwards' latest attempt to build a bridge cross the River Taff had yet again ended in failure.

The Third Bridge.
The single-arch bridge was rebuilt and was actually finished. It stood for a period of about six weeks before again it collapsed because the new bridge was not balanced, which forced the keystone out, which once again caused the bridge to collapse. In the Theory of Arches and Pontypridd, it states that "the weight of the bridge was either too great on the haunches or too little on the crown." At this stage Edwards was either encouraged or forced to try again with extra money being provided to cover his losses for the earlier attempts.

The Fourth Bridge.
The Old Bridge, when it was known as Newbridge
The final design of the bridge included three cylindrical voids (holes) of 2.7 m (8.9 ft), 1.7 m (5.6 ft) and 1.1 m (3.6 ft) on each side on the bridge. This reduced the weight and pressure on the crown and the bridge is still in operation today, however it can only be used by pedestrians. The Theory of Arches and Pontypridd, states that as a bridge, the bridge was a failure, as it was "only eleven feet wide between the parapets and so steep that wagons had to use a 'chain and drag' to descend from the crown.

The 140 ft Old Bridge surpassed the 130 ft (40 m) Old Walton Bridge as the longest single span bridge in Great Britain and remained the longest bridge for another 40 years. It was also one of the few bridges in Europe, and indeed worldwide, whose span exceeded the 40 m mark".Source: (visit link)

Date built or dedicated as indicated on the date stone or plaque.: 1750 Road, body of water, land feature, etc. that the bridge spans.: River Taff Website (if available): [Web Link] Parking (safe parking location): Not Listed Date stone, plaque location.: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   11/11/2011 veritas vita visited it