menai suspension tubular bridge Anglesey Wales Thomas Telford
The Menai Suspension Bridge, or Pont Grog y Borth in Welsh, is a suspension bridge between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826, it is one of the first modern suspension bridges in the world. Prior to the bridge's completion in 1826 the island had no fixed connection to the mainland and all movements to and from Anglesey were by ferry (or, with difficulty, on foot at low tide). However, the Act of Union 1800 increased the need for transport to Ireland, and with Holyhead as one of the principal terminals to Dublin it was decided that a bridge was needed. Thomas Telford was assigned the task of improving the route from London to Holyhead, and one of the key improvements was his design of the suspension bridge over the Menai Strait between a point near Bangor on the mainland and what was then the village of Porthaethwy which is now also known as Menai Bridge on Anglesey. The design of the bridge had to allow sailing ships 100 ft tall to pass under the deck at high water slack tide. Construction of the bridge began in 1819 with the towers on either side of the strait. These were constructed from Penmon limestone and were hollow with internal cross-walls. Then came the sixteen huge chain cables, each made of 935 iron bars that support the 176 metre span. To avoid rusting, each cable was first soaked in linseed oil. The bridge was opened to much fanfare on 30 January 1826 and succeeded in reducing the 36 hour journey time from London to Holyhead by 9 hours.
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Photo credit: © 19th era / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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