Severn Bridge

Coordinates: 51 ° 36 ′ 32 "  N , 2 ° 38 ′ 18"  W.

Severn Bridge
Bridge over the Severn
use	Motor vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians
Crossing of	Severn / Bristol Channel
construction	Suspension bridge
overall length	1,597 m
width	4 lanes, 2 in each direction
Longest span	988 m
Construction height	136 m
Clear height	47 m
building-costs	£ 8 million
start of building	1961
completion	1966
opening	September 8, 1966 (by Elizabeth II )
planner	Freeman Fox & Partners ; Mott, Hay and Anderson
toll	£ 6.50 - £ 19.60 (2015)
location

The Severn Bridge ( English Severn Bridge , Welsh Pont Hafren ) is a suspension bridge over the River Severn near its mouth in the Bristol Channel . For the first time, the main girder of this suspension bridge did not consist of a lattice girder or open solid wall girders , but of a flat steel box girder . For the first time, the hangers were also arranged at an angle.

location

The Welsh Monmouthshire and the English South Gloucestershire are connected by the 1.5 kilometer long bridge . Although crossing the Severn Bridge always means crossing the English-Welsh border, it is entirely in England. The west bank of the Severn, at the level of the bridge, is historically Welsh, but now belongs to the English Unitary Authority South Gloucestershire.

The Beachley peninsula , which separates the Severn from the River Wye , has no connection point to the route. The suspension bridge ends near the shore and runs as the Beachley Viaduct over the peninsula and as the Wye Bridge over the Wye.

construction

Stockbridge vibration absorbers on the track's suspension cables

The construction has a length of 1597 meters. Its steel pylons, 988 meters apart, rise 136 meters above the average water level of the river. The carriageway girder is a 32 meter wide and a maximum of three meter high box girder, the streamlined geometry of which was developed with the help of wind tunnel tests . The suspension cables are 22.9 meters apart, the hangers are inclined up to 30 ° to the vertical.

The bridge took five years to build. The project cost 8 million pounds . The roadway parts, each weighing 132 tonnes, were manufactured in Chepstow , approx. 3 kilometers away , and transported down the river to be lifted to their intended position on the construction site and assembled. In the late 1980s, construction work was undertaken to repair and expand the neighboring Wye Bridge. The Wye Bridge over the river of the same name is a 408 meter long cable-stayed bridge .

traffic

The two Severn bridges, with the Bristol Channel behind them

Cars and trucks

Only two lanes of traffic cross the Severn Bridge in either direction, which over time made it a bottleneck. At peak times, 50,000 vehicles crossed the structure a day. Since the Second Severn Bridge opened in 1996, there are still 15,000, 15% of current traffic over the Severn Estuary. Originally the M4 crossed the Severn Bridge. Today she takes the shorter route over the Second Severn Bridge, while the old route is known as the M48 .

The Anglo-Welsh poet Harri Webb (1920–1994) wrote an ode in honor of the Severn Bridge:

Two lands at last connected

Across the waters wide,

And all the tolls collected

On the English side.

in German:

Two countries, finally connected

across the water,

and all the toll is paid

on the English side.

The only toll station was actually on the English side in the direction of Wales, especially since the bridge is entirely in England; the border to Wales is only crossed on the subsequent Wye Bridge . Crossing Wales to England has been toll-free since the early 1990s.

Since December 2018, no more car toll has been levied. The toll stations were demolished in 2019.

Bicycles and pedestrians

The bridge of the M48 has a pedestrian or bicycle lane on both sides of the carriageway. These can be temporarily closed by remote control through gates in adverse weather conditions, especially in strong winds.

The cycle path over the bridge is part of the British long-distance cycle route number 4 from London to Fishguard on the Welsh Atlantic coast.

Severn Bridge, 2002

Web links

Commons : Severn Bridge  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Homepage
• Severn Bridge. In: Structurae
• Bridgemeister.com about the Severn Bridge (English)
• Opening in 1966

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} BBC : Severn bridges: M4 Severn crossing reopens toll free , December 17, 2018
2. ↑ not to be confused with the Cologne Severinsbrücke