In 1793, the Adam office made a design for a new bridge over the River Clyde to connect Salt Market Street to Crown Street. These designs have been attributed to James Adam, as they are dated after Robert Adam’s death. The designs were unexecuted, however, Adam’s cousin who was also a clerk and draughtsman in the Adam office, John Robertson, did start constructing a bridge there in 1794. The bridge unfortunately collapsed before it was completed due to a large flood in 1795. It is not clear if the collapsed bridge was built to the Adam office design or an alternative by Robertson.

A new timber bridge was built instead in 1803 to the designs of Peter Nicholson and replaced by a stone bridge in 1824-5 by the engineer Robert Stevenson. This bridge was replaced by the existing Albert Bridge in 1871 to the designs of Bell & Miller.

Literature: A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Volume II, Index, 1922, p. 14; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, Volume 2, 2001, p. 56; A. A. Tait, Robert Adam, The Creative Mind: from the sketch to the finished drawing, 1996, p. 42; Historic Environment Scotland, ‘Glasgow, Hutchesontown, Former Bridges’, Canmore, online [accessed 16 October 2023]

Louisa Catt, 2023