Bridges

[Charles Bannerman]

A bridge is a structure which spans and provides passage over a gap or barrier....so in order to discredit the two bridge fact you would have to prove that the foundations make up part of the structure as opposed to simply providing a support for the structure/s.

Two chopsticks don't become one when you place them on the table holder. Two tunnels do not become one by virtue of the fact that they pass through the same mountain. Two telephone lines do not become one simply because they run between shared pylons......I therefore put forward the argument that two bridges do not become one because they share a common foundation.

The two bridges are structurally identical, any difference in appearance is purely cosmetic or the result of ancillary structures added to make them functional (addition of steps, barriers, lighting, paths etc. Being dead straight, I couldn't imagine any reason why the engineers would want to do anything else!!!

For God's sake man, you've now gone and messed up my Friday big time since I'm now going to have to find the time to get down to the Friars Bridge(s?) tomorrow to have a good look for myself! :019: :D :D

Edited October 15, 2009 by Charles Bannerman

[Connie.Orr]

:019: ALRRRRRIGHT :D

Suggested either 9 or 11 bridges Caley D-ARLING, theyre the closest guesstimates mooted on here...do guesses win prizes hmmm??!!

[Scarlet Pimple]

Oh My! Where is Footballers' s wife whwn we need her ? To adjudicate, like.........

What a tangled web we weave others to deceieve !!!!!!

Let's call it quits then and agree on one thing : ----- The two bridges are Jeff and Lloyd.

:019:

And that'a a wrap.

[Charles Bannerman]

10 if you count all 3 in the Ness Islands.

Having made a site inspection today, I am prepared to accept that the Friars' Bridge is actually two bridges and that there are therefore TEN over the Ness.

Because that also allows me to proclaim Caley D's genius in the manner in which he has disproved one of the alleged sayings of the Brahan Seer! :021:

This cut and paste is a claim on behalf of Mr. MacKenzie (that's Kenny from Brahan not Johndo from Craig Dunain).

"When the ninth bridge crosses the Ness, there will be fire, flood and calamity,"

Bear in mind, that in and around 1675, Inverness was a small village of little importance nestled on the banks of the river Ness. People in that age would not comprehend WHY the river would require 9 bridges.

This prediction by the Brahan Seer was made over 300 years ago. A ninth bridge was built in 1987. Only two years later: the Piper Alpha oil rig in the North Sea exploded, killing 167 oil workers (fire); the 127-year-old rail bridge across the Ness was washed away (flood); and the aircraft crashed in flames on Lockerbie, with a loss of 279 lives (calamity).

Coincidence, perhaps?

However, if we accept what Caley D has come up with, there were NEVER nine bridges over the Ness because with the opening of the Friars' Bridge(s) in 1986 the number went up instantaneously from 8 to 10. So the Brahan Seer is talking bollox and the alleged justification (Lockerbie, Piper Alpha etc) is just the usual mumbo jumbo of the type usually used to justify astrology and similar nonsense.

So well done Caley D! Just beware of a woman called MacKenzie with a desire to chuck you headlong into a barrel of boiling tar!

I did take a walk down the central reservation this afternoon and yes, there is a definite gap of around 1-2cm between the "bridges". They are also incredibly symmetrical with axes of symmetry both parallel and perpendicular to the flow of the river. Even the lamp posts conform and the only thing I could find to contradict this was the odd drain cover a metre or so out of place.

Edited October 16, 2009 by Charles Bannerman

[Scotty]

Ahh Charles, some will argue the Brahan Seer was not wrong though ..... there never was a 9th bridge as you say, and we went straight from 8 to 10 therefore avoiding all the calamity of having 9 bridges ... (until one collapsed)

In fact you could make a whole conspiracy/superstition story out of the avoidance of bridge #9. Its not quite got the same cache as Tower 7 of the WTC but perhaps our own little version :021:

[stevico1]

10 if you count all 3 in the Ness Islands.

Having made a site inspection today, I am prepared to accept that the Friars' Bridge is actually two bridges and that there are therefore TEN over the Ness.

Because that also allows me to proclaim Caley D's genius in the manner in which he has disproved one of the alleged sayings of the Brahan Seer! :021:

This cut and paste is a claim on behalf of Mr. MacKenzie (that's Kenny from Brahan not Johndo from Craig Dunain).

"When the ninth bridge crosses the Ness, there will be fire, flood and calamity,"

Bear in mind, that in and around 1675, Inverness was a small village of little importance nestled on the banks of the river Ness. People in that age would not comprehend WHY the river would require 9 bridges.

This prediction by the Brahan Seer was made over 300 years ago. A ninth bridge was built in 1987. Only two years later: the Piper Alpha oil rig in the North Sea exploded, killing 167 oil workers (fire); the 127-year-old rail bridge across the Ness was washed away (flood); and the aircraft crashed in flames on Lockerbie, with a loss of 279 lives (calamity).

Coincidence, perhaps?

However, if we accept what Caley D has come up with, there were NEVER nine bridges over the Ness because with the opening of the Friars' Bridge(s) in 1986 the number went up instantaneously from 8 to 10. So the Brahan Seer is talking bollox and the alleged justification (Lockerbie, Piper Alpha etc) is just the usual mumbo jumbo of the type usually used to justify astrology and similar nonsense.

So well done Caley D! Just beware of a woman called MacKenzie with a desire to chuck you headlong into a barrel of boiling tar! :D

I did take a walk down the central reservation this afternoon and yes, there is a definite gap of around 1-2cm between the "bridges". They are also incredibly symmetrical with axes of symmetry both parallel and perpendicular to the flow of the river. Even the lamp posts conform and the only thing I could find to contradict this was the odd drain cover a metre or so out of place.

Charles please tell me you were not lying under Friars Bridge today to verify this post, and if you were have you got any pictures :021:

Edited to say that I have now read that you walked down central reservation rather than go underneath for a look, pity

Edited October 16, 2009 by stevico1

[Charles Bannerman]

Charles please tell me you were not lying under Friars Bridge today to verify this post, and if you were have you got any pictures :021:

Edited to say that I have now read that you walked down central reservation rather than go underneath for a look, pity

Cairns boy... take five of the belt for not reading the instructions properly! :021: :D

[stevico1]

Charles please tell me you were not lying under Friars Bridge today to verify this post, and if you were have you got any pictures :lol:

Edited to say that I have now read that you walked down central reservation rather than go underneath for a look, pity

Cairns boy... take five of the belt for not reading the instructions properly!

:lol: :lol:

[CaleyD]

Wow.....who would have known that a straight forward attempt at being a smart erse would have resulted in such an interesting (further) discovery involving the foretellings of the Brahan Seer.

Being naturally inquisitive, and having become aware that the gap ran the entire length of (between the two) bridge(s), I wondered why that would be....bridge surfaces will often be made up of sections allowing for expansion/contraction, but these don't (normally) go all the way through, and they certainly wouldn't divide a whole structure in the manner of the Friars Bridge...which I believed to be a single structure at the time.

A search of the net for photos and information on the bridge to answer my questions threw up the photo posted earlier by Scotty and the information that it was in fact 2 bridges.

What's even more interesting is that, in the 20+ years since the bridge(s) was(were) completed, nobody (that I am aware of) has made any correlation between the fact that it's two bridges (making 10 total) and the Brahan Seer prophecy relating to the fate that would befall us when they built 9 Bridges over the Ness.

I very much doubt that any deliberate decision was made to avoid having 9 bridges, but I think the fact it was avoided is far more "coincidental" than the events they try to pass off as being representative of Fire, Flood & Calamity.

[PullMyFinger]

10 if you count all 3 in the Ness Islands.

There are 6 bridges at the islands, 2 of which cross the same body of water at the Dores road side and an aquaduct (still technically a bridge) midway between them also crossing the same stretch of the river. there are two bridges (considered to be a single bridge?) crossing the middle section of the river which have a "dog leg" between them, the bend in the dog leg in fact rests on another island. This would make the total crossings in fact 13.

Edit:- forgot the second suspension bridge so that makes seven at the islands and a tally of 14 bridges over the Ness.

Edited October 17, 2009 by 5thStand

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

Slightly off topic but hey ho. The castle hill like much of the area around the river is made up of loose sand and gravel and not rock and I recall some stories that there were a number of landslides - some only minor (both on castle street and castle road) in the last century (in fact I remember my grandmother telling me about a building that went during one landslide (1930s/40s possibly)). This I believe was taken into consideration when the new bridge was built in the 1960's and still today when any new structural works are performed around the river bank areas of the town (or city as it now is). B)

[Charles Bannerman]

Slightly off topic but hey ho. The castle hill like much of the area around the river is made up of loose sand and gravel and not rock and I recall some stories that there were a number of landslides - some only minor (both on castle street and castle road) in the last century (in fact I remember my grandmother telling me about a building that went during one landslide (1930s/40s possibly)). This I believe was taken into consideration when the new bridge was built in the 1960's and still today when any new structural works are performed around the river bank areas of the town (or city as it now is). B)

The landslide you were referring to was in 1932 and it took down much of the west side of Castle Street. There were subsequent demolitions leading to what we know as The Castle Street Car Park. The old suspension bridge was condemned in 1937 and scheduled to be replaced in September 1939 but the work was postponed due to Herr Hitler's activities. Tanks happily rumbled across for the duration of the war and the suspension bridge continued in use until 1959. I have a painful memory as a wee boy of coming a cropper on my dad's bike just at the turn on to it where the Kiltmaker is now. He had a seat on the bar for me and we both ended up on the deck but my tears were halted by a bit of chocolate from a wifie.

After the current Ness Bridge went up, they continued "development" of the area and put in place the hideous cubic edifices which blight that part of Inverness to this day.