Newport Transporter Bridge | |
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![]() The bridge viewed from Coronation Park | |
Coordinates | 51°34′14″N2°59′08″W / 51.57064°N 2.98556°W |
Carries | Motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians including buses and multi sized lorries. |
Crosses | River Usk |
Locale | Newport, Wales |
Official name | Newport Transporter Bridge |
Maintained by | Newport City Council |
Heritage status | Grade I |
Characteristics | |
Design | Transporter bridge |
Total length | 236m (774.28 ft) |
Width | Three cars (gondola) (total width 108 ft / 33 m) |
Longest span | 196.56m (644.88 ft) |
History | |
Designer | Ferdinand Arnodin |
Opened | 12 September 1906 |
Statistics | |
Toll | Adult Single – £1.50 Adult Return – £2.00 Child Single – 50p Child Return – £1.00 Day Ticket (inc. unlimited trips on the gondola and walking across the top of the bridge) – £4.00 [1] |
Location | |
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The Newport Transporter Bridge (Welsh : Pont Gludo Casnewydd) is a transporter bridge that crosses the River Usk in Newport, South East Wales. The bridge is the lowest crossing on the River Usk. It is a Grade I listed structure.
It is one of fewer than 10 transporter bridges that remain in use worldwide; only a few dozen were ever built. It is one of only two operational transporter bridges in Britain, the other being the Tees Transporter Bridge.
The bridge was designed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin. It was built in 1906 and opened by Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar, on 12 September 1906. [2] Newport Museum holds a silver cigar cutter which was presented to Viscount Tredegar on the day of the opening, as a memento of the occasion. [3]
The design was chosen because the river banks are very low at the desired crossing point (a few miles south of the city centre) where an ordinary bridge would need a very long approach ramp to attain sufficient height to allow ships to pass under, and a ferry could not be used during low tide at the site. [4] The river is too narrow for a swing bridge or a bascule bridge (drawbridge). [5]
A Corporation of Newport drawing dated December 1902 is calibrated in metres. The height of the towers is 73.6 metres (241.5 ft), and the height to the underside of the main girder truss above the road level is 49.97 m (163.9 ft). The span between the centres of the towers is 196.56 m (644.9 ft), and the clearance between the towers is quoted as being 180.44 m (592 ft); however, including the cantilevered sections, the main girder truss gives the bridge an overall length of 236 m (774.3 ft). The distance between the centres of the anchorage caissons is 471.06 m (1,545.5 ft). Power to propel the transporter platform or gondola is provided by two 35 hp (26.1 kW) electric motors, which in turn drive a large winch, situated in an elevated winding house at the eastern end of the bridge. This winch is sufficient to drive the gondola through its 196.56 m (644.9 ft) total travel at a speed of 3 metres per second (9.8 ft/s). [5]
When compared with Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge, the Newport Transporter is 5 m (16 ft) taller, but 23 m (75 ft) less in overall length. It also utilizes approximately 1,400 long tons (1,600 short tons) of steel compared to 2,600 long tons (2,900 short tons) used to construct Middlesbrough's Transporter (not accounting for steel used in foundations or concrete anchors). [5] [6] This difference in weight is mainly due to the Newport bridge making use of cables to support and induce tension into its structure to a far greater extent than the Middlesbrough bridge.
The bridge is a Grade I listed structure, its Cadw listing describing it as "the oldest and largest of the three historic transporter bridges which remain in Britain, and also the largest of eight such bridges which remain worldwide". [7]
Today, the bridge is considered an “iconic symbol” of the city of Newport, particularly as a mark of its industrial heritage. [8] As well as a working transport link, the bridge is also open as a tourist attraction – visitors can climb the towers and walk across the upper deck for a small charge. The bridge forms part of the classified highway network and is also where route 4 of the National Cycle Network crosses the River Usk and route 47 begins. It was the focal point of the local millennium celebrations of 2000, where fireworks were fired from its length, and has been featured in several movies and television shows. It was the centre-piece of the Crow Point Festival in September 2006 to celebrate its centenary. It is used for charity events such as sponsored abseils.
The bridge was shut down in 1985 because of wear and tear. Following a £3 million refurbishment, it reopened in 1995. Service was suspended again in December 2008 with the bridge facing a £2 million repair bill. [9] £1.225 million was spent on refurbishment, financed by grants from the Welsh Government, Newport City Council and Cadw. It re-opened on 30 July 2010. [10] The bridge was closed on 16 February 2011, because of operational problems, but re-opened again on 4 June. [11]
The transporter bridge provided the setting for some scenes in the 1959 British crime drama film Tiger Bay , which was set in Cardiff and therefore gave audiences the impression that the bridge was in Cardiff and not Newport. The bridge also appears in an early scene in the 1972 experimental film The Other Side of the Underneath by Jane Arden [ citation needed ] and features extensively in the 1996 video for the song "Talk to Me" by Newport band 60 Ft. Dolls. [12]
The Visitor Centre is located on the west bank and features exhibits on the history of the bridge, its construction and other transporter bridges around the world. The centre has a painting of David Pearce, the former undefeated Welsh and British Heavyweight Boxing Champion 1983–1985. Pearce used to run up the steps of the Transporter Bridge during his training. The centre is generally open at weekends, [13] but it is currently closed until Summer 2024, while extensive restoration of the bridge structure is performed and a new visitor centre is constructed. [14]
A transporter bridge, also known as a ferry bridge or aerial transfer bridge, is a type of movable bridge that carries a segment of roadway across a river. The gondola is slung from a tall span by wires or a metal frame. The design has been used to cross navigable rivers or other bodies of water, where there is a requirement for ship traffic to be able to pass. This has been a rare type of bridge, with fewer than two dozen built. There are just twelve that continue to be used today, including one converted into a lift bridge and one designed as, but not yet operating as, a transporter bridge.
Usk is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks the ancient crossing point. It developed as a small market town, with some industry including the making of Japanware, and with a notable prison built in 1841–42. In recent years Usk has become known for its history of success in Britain in Bloom competitions, winning the "Wales in Bloom" competition for 35 times in a row between 1982 and 2016. The resident population of the town in 2001 was 2,318, increasing to 2,834 at the 2011 census.
The River Usk rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain, Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it flows north into Usk Reservoir, then east by Sennybridge to Brecon before turning southeast to flow by Talybont-on-Usk, Crickhowell and Abergavenny after which it takes a more southerly course.
Newport is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, 12 mi (19 km) northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest principal authority with city status in Wales, and seventh most populous overall. Newport became a unitary authority in 1996 and forms part of the Cardiff-Newport metropolitan area, also known as the Cardiff Capital Region. Newport was the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Great Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839. The population grew considerably between the 2011 and the 2021 census, rising to 159,587, the largest growth of any unitary authority in Wales.
The Tees Transporter Bridge, also referred to as the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge or locally as The Transporter, is a bridge over the River Tees in northern England. The northern side is in Port Clarence (Stockton-on-Tees) and the southern side is in Middlehaven (Middlesbrough). It is grade II* listed and the longest existing transporter in the world. and its winch house and piers are grade II listed.
The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its currently (2018) navigable 35-mile (56 km) length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park, and its present rural character and tranquillity belies its original purpose as an industrial corridor for coal and iron, which were brought to the canal by a network of tramways and/or railroads, many of which were built and owned by the canal company.
The Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge crossed the river Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal linking the towns of Runcorn and Widnes. Completed in 1905, it was Britain's first transporter bridge and the largest of its type ever built in the world. It continued in use until 22 July 1961, when it was replaced by a through arch bridge, now known as the Silver Jubilee Bridge. The transporter bridge was then demolished.
City Bridge is a crossing of the River Usk, for motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians, in the city of Newport, South Wales. It was opened in 2004 as part of the construction/re-generation of the Southern Distributor Road/A48 in Newport.
William Edwards was a Welsh Methodist minister who also practised as a stonemason, architect and bridge engineer.
Cwmfelinfach is a small village located in the Sirhowy valley of south-east Wales. It is part of the district of Caerphilly within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It is located north of Wattsville, about 5 miles north of the nearest town Risca, and south of Blackwood. To the east the valley is bordered by the hills of Pen-y-Trwyn. To the west is Mynydd y Grug.
Newport City footbridge is a pedestrian/cycle bridge over the River Usk in the city of Newport, South Wales.
Newport Castle is a ruined castle in Newport, Wales. It was built in the 14th century, probably by Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester or his son-in-law, Ralph, Earl of Stafford, with the purpose of managing the crossing of the River Usk. The castle was used as administrative offices for the collection of rent and dues from local tenants, and was also a residence and a garrison. In 1402 it was sacked by Owain Glyndŵr. It was in disrepair by 1522, and was taken by Oliver Cromwell's forces during the Civil War. Its use declined further in later centuries. It has been a Grade II* Listed building since 1951.
Newport city centre is traditionally regarded as the area of Newport, Wales bounded by the west bank of the River Usk, the George Street Bridge, the eastern flank of Stow Hill and the South Wales Main Line. Most of the city centre is contained within two conservation areas: the central area and the area around Lower Dock Street. Most of the city centre is located in the Stow Hill district.
The Usk Railway Bridge is a railway viaduct in Newport city centre, Wales. It crosses the River Usk in an east—west direction, carrying the Great Western Main Line.
The Tees Newport Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge spanning the River Tees a short distance upriver from Tees Transporter Bridge, linking Middlesbrough with the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Northern England. It no longer lifts, but still acts as a road bridge in its permanently down position.
Brynglas is an area of the city of Newport, South Wales, United Kingdom.
The Southern Distributor Road (SDR) is a principal distributor road in Newport that runs from the Coldra roundabout in the east of Newport to Tredegar Park M4 Junction 28) in the west of Newport and includes City Bridge, a bow-string arch bridge spanning the River Usk. Combined with the M4 in the north, the SDR forms the southern part of a ring road for the city.
Newport Technical Institute is a Grade II-listed building in the city centre of Newport, Wales.
In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be "buildings of exceptional interest". Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, strict limitations are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building's structure or fittings. In Wales, the authority for listing under the Planning Act 1990 rests with Cadw.