The Dean Bridge, Edinburgh, stands thirty-two meters above the River Leigh, which, at the point bellow the bridge, is only a few centimeters deep. The bridge, one of many built by Thomas Telford, carries cars and pedestrians over the Dean Valley, once home to numerous mills. The bridge has been the place of several falls, and it is hard to believe that some of them were not fatal.

In 1937 a young man fell from the parapet of the bridge one hundred and six feet into the shallow water bellow. A police-man who spotted him fall summoned an ambulance and rushed down to the waters edge, where he saw the young man stand up and walk practically unaided to the waiting ambulance.

In the 80's, a cyclist lost control of his bike and was thrown over the side of the bridge. As he fell, he was able to catch onto a pipe on the side of a building by the river. His calls for help were heard by a local resident, who summoned the fire-brigade. The man was helped down, and walked away with nothing but a broken finger.

In the 1990's, a homeless man took his dog up onto Dean Bridge and threw himself over the edge, taking his dog with him. Again, the man survived the fall and was taken to hospital where he recovered. His dog, however, did not have the same luck.

Another, potentially much more serious incident took place on the bridge, when a coach crashed through the wall and was left balanced precariously over the side of the bride, its passengers unable to move for fear that they would upset the balance and send the coach into the river bellow. The coach was eventually successfully evacuated by firemen, who managed to secure the vehicle.