Louis Harper, Designer

Louis Harper served his apprenticeship with Jenkins & Marr, Civil Engineers, Aberdeen between 1883-1887, when he joined Harpers Limited as Manager of the Bridge Department.  In 1889 he set up his own practice. 

He continued to produce bridges of his father's basic design, mainly for private estates, using local timber for the pylons and cable tensioners (eg Bandon, Lincoln and Banchory).   At some stage he replaced the wooden pylons of certain of these bridges with 'I' section steel beams, topped with his distinctive finials.  In the early 1890s tubular cast iron pylons were introduced, (eg Trentham, Larbert, Sellack).  Then in the later 1890s came the steel lattice pylon (eg Abercynon, Keswick, Newquay, the Indian and Nepalese bridges, Tsomo, Narva).  All these were manufactured at Harpers Limited, Aberdeen, UK.

About this time came the collaboration with James Abernethy & Co, Aberdeen.  Abernethy manufactured rail and road bridges of short spanned truss design.  With Louis Harper, their suspended rigid truss bridges over the Aberdeenshire Dee and at Aberlour on the Spey were built.

Louis Harper also had a general civil engineering and architectural practice.