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Tennant Canal: Pont Gam Roving Bridge

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NPRN34537
Map ReferenceSS79NE
Grid ReferenceSS7739199424
Unitary (Local) AuthorityNeath Port Talbot
Old CountyGlamorgan
CommunityTonna
Type Of SiteTOWING PATH BRIDGE
PeriodPost Medieval
Description
Bridge to carry Neath Canal towing path over the entrance to the north end of the Tennant Canal.
Stepped buttress and rebate for stop-gate between Neath and Tennant canals visible. (17/08/2004- KAA)

The plan of the bridge was surveyed by Douglas Hague and Stephen Hughes in July 1977

Interpretation/ Significance. A very elegant arched-bridge with a deck curved to accommodate the intersection of the towing-paths of the Neath and Tennant Canals, and a path on the western edge of the Aberdulais Basin. These junction, or 'roving', towing-path bridges were never very common and this is one of the last surviving in Wales.

The bridge would have been designed by William Kirkhouse, the engineer of the Tennant Canal of which it formed part, in 1821.

The complex planning of the south-western face of the bridge around the end of Aberdulais basin means that the tight curve of the deck is supported in no less than three places by unusual projecting courses of 'corbelled' masonry. A substantial stepped- buttress on the south-eastern face of the bridge would have protected its structure from the frequent collisions as long boats negotiated the junction curve into the Tennant from the Neath Canal (Stephen R. Hughes, 18.01.2007).