Bridge 41 Over Calder And Hebble Navigation - Horbury, UK - Stone Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Calder and Hebble Navigation
The Calder and Hebble Navigation completed in 1770 consisted of artificial improvements to the River Calder and River Hebble to allow canal boats use what used to be un-navigable rivers.

It ran for 21 miles from the Aire and Calder Navigation at Wakefield to Sowerby Bridge, was one of the first navigable waterways into the Pennines. It was an extension westwards of the Aire and Calder Navigation.

This is one of the places where the river is not navigable and the river is a short distance to the north east of here.

The Bridge

"The river Calder was first spanned near here by a five arch bridge commissioned in 1634 by local freemasonry. It was four yards wide, cost £600 to build and was in need of repair by 1692.

After further repair work, a bridge collapse occurred on the 23rd May 1918, and the remainder of the bridge was washed away in a heavy flood on the 12th February 1920. A temporary wooden structure was erected to maintain the route to Huddersfield.

The present bridge was designed by Mouchel (Consulting Engineers) and was built by Yorkshire Hennebique Ltd. of Leeds for the West Riding of Yorkshire County Council in 1925. Routine structural assessment in the 1980s of the integrity and strength of both the Horbury river and canal bridges revealed that both structures were not adequate for the loading imposed by modern day vehicles and as result traffic was banned from using the bridge. Between 1988 and 1990 and withe the full co-operation of the National River Authority, specialists undertook both a hydraulic survey and an underwater inspection of the bridges. The information obtained was used in the design work carried out by West Yorkshire Highways, Engineering and Technical Services on behalf of Wakefield MDC. The strengthening of the canal bridge was also designed at the same time. In 1991, tenders were evaluated for the remedial work on the bridge and the contract was awarded to Morrison Shand Construction Ltd. (now Morrison Construction Ltd.)" local history website extract

This original canal bridge was made of stone and has been widened, either in 1925 or when the bridge improvements were carried out in 1993.

When walking under the bridge using the towpath, the stone on one side can clearly be seen and the division in the middle of the bridge where the construction changes from stone to concrete.

Physical Location (city, county, etc.): Horbury Bridge, West Yorkshire Road, Highway, Street, etc.: Bridge Road Water or other terrain spanned: The Calder and Hebble Navigation Architect/Builder: Not listed Construction Date: Not listed

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