Dunans Bridge is a category A-listed structure, designed by Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...

. It is located at Dunans Castle

Dunans Castle

Dunans Castle is a historic structure located in Glendaruel, in the Argyll and Bute region of Scotland. Shown on maps in 1590, the building was elaborated into a castle in 1860, the castle sits on of ground and in 2001, was ruined by fire.-History:...

 on the Cowal

Cowal

thumb|Cowal shown within ArgyllCowal is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands.-Description:The northern part of Cowal is mostly the mountainous Argyll Forest Park. Cowal is separated from the Kintyre peninsula to the west by Loch Fyne, and from Inverclyde and North Ayrshire to...

 peninsula in Argyll

Argyll

Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It was built for John Fletcher of Dunans, to commemorate the battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

. The bridge was completed in 1815, and predates the 1864 elaboration of Dunans House by Kerr into a Franco-Baronial "castle". The three-arched rubble construction is considered internationally important as it is the only extant bridge of this type. It stands over 15 metres (49.2 ft) from the river bed and has been voted one of Scotland's ten best bridges. It was built to replace the now destroyed "swing bridge". Though it is of a kind often constructed by Telford, the three arches, gargoyles and eight hexagonal piers, as well as its sheer height 16 metres (52.5 ft), make it unique.

The structure is in the "At Risk" category on the "Buildings at Risk Register for scotland."The 2008 inspection indicated:"there is significant vegetation growth on and around the structure and the buttress caps have been damaged by cement repairs."