6000 x 4000 px | 50,8 x 33,9 cm | 20 x 13,3 inches | 300dpi
Aufnahmedatum:
1. Juli 2023
Ort:
Menai Strait Wales
Weitere Informationen:
Britannia Bridge (Welsh: Pont Britannia) is a bridge in Wales that crosses the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and city of Bangor. It was originally designed and built by the noted railway engineer Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of wrought iron rectangular box-section spans for carrying rail traffic. Its importance was to form a critical link of the Chester and Holyhead Railway's route, enabling trains to directly travel between London and the port of Holyhead, thus facilitating a sea link to Dublin, Ireland.A fire in May 1970 caused extensive damage to the Britannia Bridge. Subsequent investigation determined that the damage to the tubes was so extensive that they were not realistically repairable. The bridge was rebuilt in a quite different configuration, reusing the piers while employing new arches to support not one but two decks, as the new Britannia Bridge was to function as a combined road-and-rail bridge. The bridge was rebuilt in phases, initially reopening in 1972 as a single-tier steel truss arch bridge, carrying only rail traffic. Over the next eight years more of the structure was replaced, allowing for more trains to run and a second tier to be completed. The second tier was opened to accommodate road traffic in 1980. The bridge was subject to a £4 million four-month in-depth maintenance programme during 2011. Since the 1990s, there has been talk of increasing road capacity over the Menai Strait, either by extending the road deck of the existing bridge or via the construction of a third bridge.
