Commercial traffic returned to a Scottish river for the first time in decades yesterday in a trial geared towards showing it can once again be used to transport cargo.
The £1.4m refurbishment of the A-listed Inchinnan bascule bridge crossing the River Cart in Renfrewshire meant it could be raised drawbridge-style for the first time in many years, paving the way for the historic moment.
Taking advantage of the development, two huge steel spools, with a combined weight of 80 tonnes, were taken on a 20m barge by Steel Engineering of Renfrew along the Cart on the first leg of a 600-mile sea journey to Newcastle to show-test the operation of the bridge.
It was raised to its full 30m height yesterday to allow the barge to pass.
The 8.6m-wide spools were then taken to George V Dock on the Clyde before making the onward journey and will be used by oil industry operators in the laying of pipes.
Built in 1922, it is one of the last remaining fully operational drawbridge-style bridges in the country.
With the closure of Paisley harbour and much of the heavy industry upstream on the Cart from the 1960s onwards, use of the bridge opening facility has reduced greatly.
Renfrewshire Council took ownership 11 years ago and was immediately faced with an ongoing and expensive maintenance liability.
After it was granted Grade A-listed status in 1994 as the only bridge of its kind in Scotland, conservation legislation meant the unreliable opening facility had to be maintained under the watchful eye of Historic Scotland.
But the council has seized the opportunity to use its refurbishment to investigate the opening of the upper part of the Cart to the transportation of cargo once again.
It has already carried out a multi-beam sonar survey of the river bed in the upper reaches of the Cart to look into the possibility of dredging the area to allow more accessibility to waterborne craft.
Iain Nicolson, convener of Renfrewshire Council's Planning and Economic Development Board, said: "The strengthening and refurbishing of the historic bascule bridge means the Cart remains available as a working asset."
Peter Breslin, director of Steel Engineering, said: "We intend to use this facility for other contracts now that we have proved the principle. There are a number of companies we work for which will be interested in using the Cart to move fabrications which are too large for road transport."
The earliest attempts to improve navigation of the river were made in 1753 and 1834.
An engineering paper referring to the opening bridge said it would form "an important link in road communications between Glasgow and the lower reaches of the Clyde and also provide a gateway giving improved access from Paisley harbour to the Clyde and the sea".
The Inchinnan bascule bridge was built to the design of renowned engineer Sir William Arrol, one of Houston's most famous sons, who was also responsible for London's Tower Bridge. The Cart bridge was constructed in 1922 and formally opened in March the following year.
It allowed the width of the navigation channel to be increased from 50ft to 90ft improving access to Paisley Harbour and helping the town's aspirations to port status.
But silting was always a problem with the river, along with a reliance on favourable tidal conditions.
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