Dean Bridge

Four slender, arched stone ribs support the deck of the Dean Bridge, spanning the deep gorge of the Water of Leith. Designed by Thomas Telford in eighteen thirty-one, the structure solved the problem of connecting Edinburgh’s New Town to the expanding northern suburbs. Before its completion, travelers faced a steep, treacherous descent into the village below. John Learmonth, the Lord Provost who commissioned the bridge, gained significantly as the value of his private landholdings on the other side skyrocketed overnight.