Civil engineering heritage: country profile – Scotland

Abstract

This paper is a review of Scotland’s civil engineering heritage, one of the series of national profiles being published by Engineering History and Heritage. It is presented under four headings: ‘Scotland’s major civil engineering achievements’, ‘National and regional recognition of engineering heritage’, ‘Exemplar conservation of engineering structures’ and ‘Information sources for engineering heritage’. The paper discusses engineering structures of heritage importance, including six UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage sites, as well as many mediaeval masonry bridges; harbours and ports developed since the eighteenth century by engineers such as Rennie, Telford, James Walker, William Cubitt and James Rendel; many lighthouses and canals; dams built for feeding canals, water supply and hydroelectric power; bridges by Rennie, Telford, Smeaton, Stevenson and Benjamin Baker; and modern structures such as the innovative suspension bridge over the Forth by Mott, Hay and Anderson and the Kylesku Bridge by Arup. The paper lists organisations in Scotland active in helping to conserve its engineering heritage, including Historic Environment Scotland, which also publishes guidance on extending the life of structures. The paper concludes with a short list of websites and books giving further information about Scottish civil engineering heritage.