Runcorn Bridge (Silver Jubilee Suspension Bridge) at Night [A533 Queensway, Runcorn/Widnes, Cheshire, England, UK, Europe]. .
The Runcorn (Silver Jubilee) Bridge is a compression arch suspended deck bridge built in 1961 between the towns of Runcorn (originally in Cheshire) and Widnes (originally in Lancashire), both now part of Halton. Commonly known as ‘The Runcorn Bridge’, it provided the first over-land road crossing of the River Mersey (A533), and spans a narrowing part of the river known as the Runcorn Gap. The bridge was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson as a replacement of the Runcorn-Widnes Transporter Bridge. It was built by the Dorman Long engineering company, who have been involved in the manufacture and construction of many major bridges since 1875, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. Construction of the Silver Jubilee Bridge started in 1954 and was opened to the public by Princess Alexandra of Kent after completion in 1961. The bridge was built using suspended cantilever construction with the aid of temporary towers and ties; to support the structure and reduce base hogging moments during construction. This form of construction is avoided in many parts of the world where high winds are frequent, due to the risk of collapse during assembly. The total weight of the bridge is 10,000 tonnes including the vehicle deck and approach viaducts, and contains 6,000 tonnes of steel. At the time of its construction it cost nearly £3 million to build. The bridge has a main span of 330m and is 85m above sea level at its crown; proportionally it is roughly two thirds the size of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The bridge is lime green coloured and repainting takes five years and 50,000 litres of paint. In 1975 the bridge was widened from two to four lanes to cope with increased traffic demands; and in 1977 the bridge was renamed from the Runcorn-Widnes Bridge to the Silver Jubilee Bridge in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. Halton Borough Council has developed plans for a new crossing near Fiddlers Ferry. This photograph is part of the Imagine Collection, hosted by Alamy.
Size: 5022px × 3348px
Location: A533 Queensway, Runcorn / Widnes, Cheshire, England, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Europe. .
Photo credit: © Al Pidgen / Imagine Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., amazing, arch, architectural, architecture, astonishing, attractive, beautiful, black, breathtaking, bridge, bright, brilliant, britain, british, calm, car, cheshire, city, collectio, color, colorful, colour, colourful, contrast, dark, dazzling, distinctive, dorman, dramatic, dusk, elegant, engineering, england, english, europe, european, evening, exceptional, extraordinary, extravagant, fabulous, fantastic, gb, girder, glow, glowing, good, gorgeous, grand, great, harbour, icon, image, images, imagine, impressive, incredible, industrial, interesting, iron, jubilee, kingdom, landmark, large, light, lighting, lights, liverpool, long, lovely, magnificent, manchester, maroon, marvelous, mersey, monument, movement, night, outdoors, photo, photograph, photography, pretty, promenade, quality, quiet, red, reflection, remarkable, river, road, roadbridge, runcorn, sand, scape, sensational, shadow, shimmer, shimmering, ship, silhouette, silver, sky, spectacular, splendid, steal, stone, striking, structural, structure, stunning, sunset, superb, support, suspension, sydney, symbol, tourism, tourist, traffic, tranquil, transport, transportation, travel, tremendous, uk, unbelievable, union, unique, united, unusual, urban, vibrant, view, vivid, water, waterfront, wave, waves, white, widnes, wonderful
