A horse drawn canal boat has a lot of inertia and no brakes. If a horse towing a boat arrives at a bridge, the supervising humans must bring it to a halt, disconnect the towing rig, move the horse to the other side of the bridge, and then reconnect the tow line.
The industrious people of Industrial Era Britain thought of a better solution: the roving or turnover bridge. Whereas some bridges were simply high enough to allow the passage of the tow horse on either side, the roving bridge brought the horse up on ramps facing either direction, turning it completely around as it passed.
-via TYWKIWDBI | Photo: Smabs Sputzer
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That makes sense.
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Sometimes the logistics requires that the towpath move from one side of the canal to the other - swampy ground, rocky outcrop, buildings etc. In that situation going under a larger bridge doesn't solve the problem.
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If I can figure out the logistics, then that would work only if the horse can pass under the bridge, which adds to the building requirements of the bridge.
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Wouldn't it have been simpler just to keep the sidewalk going on the same side of the river, rather than changing it?
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You should look up Antarctica horses, or World War 2 horses.
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