3-043-868 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Albert Bridge, Glasgow, opened last week, 1871. New bridge crossing the river Clyde at Hutcheson town. '...it is a graceful structure, as well as remarkably strong. It has three arches of very wide span, upheld by great pillars of granite, in which the red Peterhead stone which relieves the centre of each contrasts with the surrounding grey. The rich green colour of the bridge, studded with polished knobs and set off by lines of gilt, the massive spandrils with their centrepieces, and the armorial bearings which adorn the parapets and sides, combine to render this new bridge one of the finest and most elegant in the city. The towers in the abutments at each end are enriched with lifesized and lifelike bronze medallions of the Queen and the late Prince Albert, in bas-relief, from designs by Mr. Ewing. Not less effective are the solid granite piers which support the bridge, with their carved capitals, and the handsome three-branched lamps above...The foundations have been carried right down through the sand, so as to rest upon a hard substratum 80 ft. below the surface. This was effected by means of sunk cylinders, 10 ft. in diameter, filled with a concrete of sand and hydraulic mortar'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.