Description

Sir Owen Williams (engineer) with Maxwell Ayrton (architect), 1925-26. Two-arched, reinforced concrete Modern Movement bridge with distinctive faceted concrete sides and 6-sided shuttered arches. Splayed piers forming cutwater to centre and retaining walls at banks. Small parapets to road.

Statement of Interest

Sir Owen Williams, one of the most celebrated engineers of the modern movement era of design, was commissioned to design a number of landmark bridges along the route of the A9 road in the Highlands, working with the architect Maxwell Ayrton. Designed and built between 1924 and 1928, the bridges combine imaginative aesthetics with innovative structural design in reinforced concrete. The bridges were cast in-situ, which adds to their historic significance.

The faceted sides of this bridge (together with William's other A9 bridges at Crubenmore and Dalnamein (small

may have been influenced by the Cubist movement, although there were also practical reasons for casting the concrete in this way. Williams is thought to have conceived these bridges to resemble alien forms within the landscape, yet having aged and weathered the bridges now blend quite naturally with their surroundings.

There were eight bridges by Williams on the A9, the others being a near-identical twin arch-bridge at Crubenmore, larger bridges at Dalmein, over the Spey near Newtonmore, and over the Findhorn at Tomatin, and a small single-span bridge also at Dalnamein (all listed seperately). Small bridges at Aviemore and Brora have been remodelled and remain unlisted.

Loch Alvie bridge is situated on the SE side of Loch Alvie, on the old course of the A9. The reinforcements are suffering from corrosion.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77780259

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)