The Twechar Colliery Railway Bridge was installed in the late-1860s for William Baird & Co. to provide a more direct transport link between the company’s mines on either side of the Forth & Clyde Canal. This swing bridge enabled the company’s private railway to run from Twechar No.1 pit on the north side of the canal to Gartshore No.10, and allowed for canal traffic to pass. The company needed to gain permission from the Forth & Clyde Canal Navigation to construct the bridge over the canal, one of the conditions of which was to transport a significant amount of the coal by canal.