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Britannia Bridge (Welsh: Pont Britannia) is a bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. It was originally designed and built by Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of wrought iron rectangular box-section spans for carrying rail traffic. Following a fire in 1970 it was rebuilt as a two-tier steel truss arch bridge, carrying both road and rail traffic.
Construction started in 1846, the bridge was opened on 5 March 1850. For its time, it was a bridge of "magnitude and singular novelty", far surpassing in length contemporary cast beam or plate girder iron bridges.
During the evening of 23 May 1970 the bridge was greatly damaged when boys playing inside the bridge dropped a burning torch, setting alight the tar-coated wooden roof of the tubes. Despite the best efforts of the Caernarfonshire and Anglesey fire brigades, the bridge's height, construction and the lack of an adequate water supply meant they were unable to control the fire which spread all the way across from the mainland to the Anglesey side. After the fire had burned itself out the bridge was still standing but the structural integrity of the iron tubes had been fatally compromised by the intense heat. As a consequence the bridge was completely rebuilt. The new design had spans which were supported by additional archways. The new bridge reopened to rail traffic (albeit with only a single line of rails rather than the twin tracks that existed prior to the fire on 30 January 1972.
In 1980, almost 10 years after the fire, the upper road level opened which carried a single-carriageway section of the A55 Road.
Visited with Georgie
There are 2 levels of maintenance walkways beneath the bridge.
Britannia Bridge (Welsh: Pont Britannia) is a bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. It was originally designed and built by Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of wrought iron rectangular box-section spans for carrying rail traffic. Following a fire in 1970 it was rebuilt as a two-tier steel truss arch bridge, carrying both road and rail traffic.
Construction started in 1846, the bridge was opened on 5 March 1850. For its time, it was a bridge of "magnitude and singular novelty", far surpassing in length contemporary cast beam or plate girder iron bridges.
During the evening of 23 May 1970 the bridge was greatly damaged when boys playing inside the bridge dropped a burning torch, setting alight the tar-coated wooden roof of the tubes. Despite the best efforts of the Caernarfonshire and Anglesey fire brigades, the bridge's height, construction and the lack of an adequate water supply meant they were unable to control the fire which spread all the way across from the mainland to the Anglesey side. After the fire had burned itself out the bridge was still standing but the structural integrity of the iron tubes had been fatally compromised by the intense heat. As a consequence the bridge was completely rebuilt. The new design had spans which were supported by additional archways. The new bridge reopened to rail traffic (albeit with only a single line of rails rather than the twin tracks that existed prior to the fire on 30 January 1972.
In 1980, almost 10 years after the fire, the upper road level opened which carried a single-carriageway section of the A55 Road.
Visited with Georgie
There are 2 levels of maintenance walkways beneath the bridge.
