| Severn Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The Severn Bridge seen from the English side of the river. From 1966 to 1996, the bridge carried the M4 motorway. The M4 motorway is a Motorway in Great Britain linking London with Wales. On completion of the Second Severn Crossing the motorway from Olveston on the English side to Rogiet was renamed the M48 |
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| Carries | 4 lane M48 motorway |
| Crosses | Severn Estuary |
| Locale | South West England/South East Wales |
| Design | Suspension bridge |
| Longest span | 3,240 ft (988 m) |
| Vertical clearance | 445 ft (136 m) |
| Opening date | 8 September 1966 |
| Toll | Car: £5. Olveston is a small Village and larger Parish in South Gloucestershire, England. Rogiet is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, located between Caldicot and Magor, some 8 miles west of Chepstow and 11 miles The M48 is a Motorway in Great Britain joining Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire over the original Severn Bridge. The M48 is a Motorway in Great Britain joining Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire over the original Severn Bridge. For other rivers named "Severn" see Severn River. The River Severn ( Welsh: Afon Hafren, Latin South West England is one of the Regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to This article is concerned with a particular type of suspension bridge the suspended-deck type Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. 30 Van: £10. 60 HGV: £15. Large Goods Vehicle ( LGV) or category N2 and N3, is the formal term in the European Union for goods vehicles (i 90 Motorcycle: Free |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
- For the Ontario community, see Severn Bridge, Ontario
- Not to be confused with Second Severn Crossing
The Severn Bridge (Welsh: Pont Hafren) is a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between South Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol, England, and Monmouthshire in South Wales, via Beachley, a peninsula between the Severn and Wye estuaries. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Severn Bridge Ontario is a small community in the District of Muskoka in the province of Ontario, in Canada. The Second Severn Crossing ( Welsh: Ail Groesfan Hafren) is a Motorway crossing over the River Severn between England and Wales Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic This article is concerned with a particular type of suspension bridge the suspended-deck type For other rivers named "Severn" see Severn River. The River Severn ( Welsh: Afon Hafren, Latin Geography The River Severn forms the north-western edge of the area with a wide coastal plain terminated by the Severn Escarpment. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Ancient county See also Monmouthshire (historic The ancient county of Monmouthshire was formed from the Welsh Marches by the Laws in Wales South Wales (De Cymru is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south and Mid Wales and West Wales A peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by Water but connected to Mainland via an Isthmus. This article is about the river that flows along or close to the Anglo-Welsh border It is the original Severn crossing between England and Wales and took five years to construct at a cost of £8 million. Severn crossing is a term used to refer to the two Motorway crossings over the River Severn estuary between England and Wales. [1] It replaced the Aust ferry. The Aust Ferry was a Ferry service that operated across the River Severn in Gloucestershire, England, between the villages of Aust
The bridge was opened on 8 September 1966 by Queen Elizabeth II, who hailed it as the dawn of a new economic era for South Wales. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II An economy is the realized social system of production exchange distribution and consumption of goods and services of a country or other area The bridge was granted Grade I listed status in 1998. A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural historical or cultural significance [2]
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Component structures
The Severn Bridge crossing consists of four structures, which, listed in order from England to Wales, are: the Aust Viaduct, Severn Bridge, Beachley Viaduct and Wye Bridge.
Aust Viaduct
The Aust Viaduct is a twin box girder structure with a concrete deck, which carries the roadway to the first gravity anchorage of the old Severn Bridge. A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. The roadway is then carried over the top of the concrete anchorage to the Severn Bridge.
Severn Bridge
The Severn Bridge is located close to the former Aust Ferry. The Aust Ferry was a Ferry service that operated across the River Severn in Gloucestershire, England, between the villages of Aust The bridge is a suspension bridge of conventional design, with the deck supported by two main cables slung between two steel towers. The bridge is 5,240 ft (1,600 m) long, consisting of a the 3,240 ft (988 m) central span between the towers and the two 1,000 ft (305 m) side spans. A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International The towers rise to 445 ft (136 m) above mean high water and are of hollow box construction. The deck is an orthotropic steel box girder of aerofoil shape with cantilevered cycle tracks and footway supported from the box. An orthotropic bridge or orthotropic deck is one whose deck typically comprises a Structural steel deck plate stiffened either longitudinally or transversely or in A girder is a support beam used in Construction. Girders often have an I beam cross section for strength but may also have a box shape Z shape An airfoil (in American English) or aerofoil (in British English) is the shape of a Wing or blade (of a Propeller, rotor A cantilever is a beam supported on only one end The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and Shear stress. The shape of the bridge was determined by the designers Freeman, Fox and Partners following wind tunnel tests for the Forth Road Bridge, after the original wind tunnel model was accidentally destroyed. The Forth Road Bridge is a Suspension bridge in east central Scotland The sections of the deck were built at Fairfield-Mabey in Chepstow, and each 132 tonne section was then floated down the river before being hoisted into position. Chepstow (Cas-gwent is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. The construction was undertaken by Sir William Arrol & Co. and completed in 1966. Sir William Arrol & Co was a leading Scottish Civil engineering business based in Glasgow. Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar.
Beachley Viaduct
The Beachley Viaduct is also of similar box girder construction as the Severn Bridge but is supported on steel trestles as it crosses the Beachley peninsula. The peninsula contains an army camp, which the bridge crosses. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces.
Wye Bridge
The Wye Bridge is a 1,340 ft (408 m) long cable-stayed bridge, which crosses the border marked by the River Wye between England and Wales, 2 miles (3. A This article is about the river that flows along or close to the Anglo-Welsh border A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States 2 km) south of Chepstow. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand It consists of a single large cable stayed section with two single-leg pylons supporting the bridge deck from the centre of the roadway. The deck is an orthotropic box girder similar to the Severn Bridge but has a different appearance as it has two sets of cable stays on each of two towers. Originally there was only one set of cable stays but these were replaced during the strengthening works in the late 1980s.
Post-construction changes
The Severn Bridge crossing was strengthened and resurfaced in the late 1980s as the weight of traffic grew. The work included the strengthening of the Severn Bridge towers and deck, an extension to the existing Wye Bridge towers and the replacement of the original single stays with two stays. The open structure of the new stays is designed to facilitate maintenance. Most of the strengthening work was inside the deck box and towers and so is not visible. The surfacing is a 35 mm (1. The Millimetre ( American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to 4 in) thick layer of mastic asphalt over an acrylic waterproofing membrane. Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. Asphalt ( is a sticky black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude Petroleums and in some natural deposits sometimes termed asphaltum
The road is only two carriageways of two lanes in each direction, and as traffic volumes grew it became a major bottleneck. At its peak, it was carrying 50,000 vehicles a day. The burden of maintenance also became unmanageable, so that by the 1990s a second Severn crossing was necessary. The Second Severn Crossing ( Welsh: Ail Groesfan Hafren) is a Motorway crossing over the River Severn between England and Wales Since the construction of the second bridge, the original crossing carries 15,000 vehicles day, 25% of the total traffic traversing the estuary.
Toll
Shortly after the opening of the Severn Bridge, Anglo-Welsh poet Harri Webb wrote an Ode on the Severn Bridge:[3]
- Two lands at last connected
- Across the waters wide,
- And all the tolls collected
- On the English side. The Civic Trust of England and Wales is a charitable organisation founded in 1957 Anglo-Welsh poetry is a subset of Anglo-Welsh literature. The poetry written in English by those familiar with the Welsh language tends to be distinctive Harri Webb ( 7 September 1920 – 31 December 1994) was an Anglo-Welsh poet, Journalist and Welsh nationalist
The toll is indeed collected on the English side, and only on vehicles travelling westwards from England to Wales, leading some people describing it as a "tax on entering Wales", both in jest, and also as a more serious anti-toll campaign. Humour or humor (see spelling differences) is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke Laughter and provide Amusement [4] Originally, tolls were charged in both directions, but the arrangements were changed in the early 1990s to eliminate the need for a set of toll booths for each direction of travel and the potential for traffic waiting to pay the toll backing up onto the bridge itself.
As of January 2008, the toll is £5. 30 for a car, increasing to £15. 90 for a heavy goods vehicle. Large Goods Vehicle ( LGV) or category N2 and N3, is the formal term in the European Union for goods vehicles (i [5] Motorcycles and disabled badge holders are exempt from the tolls, although both must stop at the toll booths to have their eligibility confirmed. The tolls for the Second Severn Crossing are the same, although in this case, the tolls are collected on the Welsh side, the longer approach viaducts making queueing on the bridge less of an issue. A system known as the Severn TAG made by Amtech is also in operation, which allows drivers to pay electronically without having to stop at the toll booths. The Severn TAG is a payment system for collecting bridge tolls for drivers using either the Severn Bridge Crossing or the Second Severn Crossing over the Roper Industries is a diversified industrial company that produces engineered products for global niche markets TAGs are available either on a per-trip or a seasonal basis, although only the latter attracts a discount. The cycle path and footpath, which run along either side of the roadway, may be used free of charge.
40 year inspections
During its 40th year of operation, the bridge was inspected to check for corrosion of the suspension cables. According to the Highways Agency,[6] the inspection concluded that the bridge needed restrictions on heavy goods vehicles. The Highways Agency is an Executive agency, part of the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom. [7] Such vehicles are now restricted to one lane on the bridge, with weight restriction signs in place. A system of installing a rubber casing on the cables with dry air circulation is to be used on the Forth Road Bridge and a similar system may be implemented on the Severn Bridge, in a move to halt the progress of the corrosion. The Forth Road Bridge is a Suspension bridge in east central Scotland [8]
See also
References
- ^ Construction cost. Severn crossing is a term used to refer to the two Motorway crossings over the River Severn estuary between England and Wales. This is lists some of the crossings of the River Severn in Great Britain, in order from source to mouth The Aust Ferry was a Ferry service that operated across the River Severn in Gloucestershire, England, between the villages of Aust M48 Severn Bridge - Closures to Install Cable Drying. Retrieved on 2008-05-12. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.
- ^ Severn Bridge and Aust Viaduct. Images of England. Retrieved on 2006-12-22. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1790 - The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies
- ^ Lords Hansard Text. UK Parliament Publications & Records (17 February 1999). Events 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt. 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de' Fiori Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Retrieved on 2007-07-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England.
- ^ "Road toll activist calls on Zeta", The Western Mail, 31 August 2004. Events 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora becomes ill dying suddenly a few days later without children to succeed the Throne "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Retrieved on 2007-07-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England.
- ^ Severn Bridge Tolls (PDF). Severn River Crossing PLC. Retrieved on 2008-01-01. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC
- ^ Possible restrictions for M48 Severn Bridge. Highways Agency (29 September 2006). The Highways Agency is an Executive agency, part of the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom. Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on 2007-07-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England.
- ^ HGVs curbed on old Severn Bridge. BBC News (29 September 2006). Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on 2007-07-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England.
- ^ Severn Bridge's corrosion problem. BBC News (7 March 2007). Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Retrieved on 2007-07-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England.
External links
- Severn River Crossing PLC
- Severn Bridge in the Structurae database
- ST58NE Aust M4 motorway - Images of England (photos of listed buildings)
- Bridge celebrates 40th birthday (video), BBC News, 8 September 2006
- Archive pictures of the bridge being built (BBC)
- Video of the Queen opening the bridge in 1966 (BBC)
- Motorway Database: M48
- Severn Bridge traffic webcam
Images:
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