Harper Bridges

Burnhervie, R. Don, c.1880


Burnhervie c.1880
The date of the Burnhervie bridge is unknown but it shares similarities with the Monymusk bridge - and was built 5 miles downstream on the Aberdeenshire Don (NJ735190). In 1979 the bridge is described as having suspension cables above, tension cables below and stay cables. The suspension cables and tension cables were secured and adjusted by capstan type winches at top and bottom of the stanchions, respectively at both ends. The stay cables had the same type adjuster at the column top and was cast into the anchor block at the bottom. This description matches exactly the Monymusk bridge. The Burnhervie bridge collapsed in 1979 during a raft race when one of the upstream stay cables failed.

The original owner of the bridge is not known, and its purpose not clear. However at the time Kemnay was a 'dry' town and the workers from the nearby granite quarry had nowhere to slake their thirst but at the licensed shop across the river at Burnhervie. Initially they made there way there by stepping stones but no doubt this was hazardous particularly on the return journey from the drinking shop. The hazard may or may not have been ameliorated by fellow workers holding hands - or as one story has it, pinning an inebriate to the ground with a block of granite to avoid him crossing alone. Possibilities for who might have had the bridge erected are the local landowners - or the owner of the licensed premises. Kemnay gained its own pub in 1937.

Its successor on 1980 was based on the same general appearance but with hollow square section steel columns instead of the previous 'I' beam sections. This bridge was regularly vandalized and replaced in 2005 by a cable stayed bridge. The design of the present bridge also echoes that of its predecessors.