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New Bridge |
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Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire KAC33.77 |
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KandAC mile 33
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New Bridge from westwards; what you can see of it and what is left of
it.
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The bridge is a brick built accommodation bridge, 33 miles 77 chains
from Reading, it carried a track from fields to the south east to the
road parallel the canal to the north west. The bridge is decayed and
covered with trees and bushes. Tank traps still stand on the bridge -
waiting for it to fall down?
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headroom |
11ft3ins |
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depth of water |
5ft2ins |
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Stretcher bond brickwork of the first of several layers of skew
brickwork making the arch, seated on the levels courses of the
footings.
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This bridge is a good example of skew brickwork:-
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... a purpose-built skew bridge with four separate arch rings of
half-brick thickness, each following a different line and thus
providing a laminated arch of great strength. ...
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John Rennie, the canal's engineer, may have built this bridge at a
later date; his experiments in designing skew brickwork coming to
fruition.
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Viewed from the east the bridge and tank traps have a romantic air.
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The parapet is gone, a little of the arch has fallen away, and there's
a fine crop of greenery.
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Kennet and Avon Scrapbook 2000
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