Haydon Bridge, Northumberland.

gramps

gramps

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From a recent visit - tried a mono conversion.



Haydon Bridge by photogramps, on Flickr

I was very interested to see that the river bed under and around the bridge was sort of paved, large flat stones of different sizes, like flagstones ... couldn't find anyone who knew the story behind them :)
 
Looks and interesting bridge, maybe the stones were to stop erosion around the supports/pillars of the bridge.
 
Good thinking Steve, makes perfect sense :)
 
It's a curious bridge altogether, the arches are modern but the pillars - or at least the outer casing looks very old.
Maybe the original was very narrow and weak so the flags were for heavy vehicles to ford the crossing.
 
I believe that the pillars are original but the actual bridge was originally made of wood, later replaced with stone - it was 'refurbished' a few years ago but I have no information on the 'flagstones', looking at their condition, probably don't date from the original construction.
 
I suspect that the flags are indeed for riverbed erosion control as mentioned (Steve). A more modern variant involves cast-in-situ concete.

Strictly, bridges don't have 'pillars'- they have piers. The pointed end of a pier dividing the flow is a cutwater.
 
Looks like I've dumped the original Steve :thinking:
 
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