Editing ALVATIA: Ingsby - Great Bridge

[[Category: FANGS]]
[[Category: Alvatia]]
[[Category: Ingsby]]

[[ALVATIA: City of Wedburgh]]

==The Great Bridge at Ingsby==

Called in all seriousness the "Great Bridge" by the parochial villagers, a sturdy wooden bridge crosses the river [[ALVATIA:_Ingsby_-_River_Ive|Ive]] toward the north. From end to end the bridge measures 40 feet; the roadway, 8 feet wide, is about 9 feet above the usual surface of the river. A masonry pier bears the weight of the bridge in mid-span.

Only a low wooden curb borders the bridge. The roadway surface is covered with dirt and trampled turf little different from the roads in the area, except for a few narrow gaps in the boards where the water is visible below.

Village children, and poor travellers seeking shelter, have pounded the narrow bank under the south foot of the bridge hard and bare, with traces of small cooking fires.

In winters of heavy rain, the river surges up to within a foot or so of the underside of the bridge, sending splashes up onto the roadway from the current breasting the pier. Brush and debris will become jammed into the beams under the bridge, and must be removed by the villagers after each storm -- not their favorite job in the winter, with cold water rushing by.

It is possible that some day, if the [[ALVATIA:_Ingsby_-_Little_Bridge|Little Bridge]] is destroyed by a flood, that the [[ALVATIA:_Ingsby_-_Great_Bridge|Great Bridge]] might be damaged in turn by the mighty logs of the [[ALVATIA:_Ingsby_-_Little_Bridge|Little Bridge]] coming down with the current (if they get over or through the weir of the mill).