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Home » Transport » Railways and tramroads » Britannia Bridge

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  • Britannia bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson, son of the locomotive pioneer George Stephenson, and was built during the 1840s to carry trains from the mainland to Anglesey. The construction of this 'tubular bridge' posed a number of difficult engineering challenges. The two iron tubes, which measured 472 feet long and weighed around 1800 tons each, were floated into position, then raised by hydraulic pumps to their final destination In 1970 the bridge was almost destroyed by fire and was rebuilt as a two-level bridge, carrying both train and road traffic.
Aerial photograph of Britannia Bridge, Menai Straits, 1996
  • Britannia bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson, son of the locomotive pioneer George Stephenson, and was built during the 1840s to carry trains from the mainland to Anglesey. The construction of this 'tubular bridge' posed a number of difficult engineering challenges. The two iron tubes, which measured 472 feet long and weighed around 1800 tons each, were floated into position, then raised by hydraulic pumps to their final destination In 1970 the bridge was almost destroyed by fire and was rebuilt as a two-level bridge, carrying both train and road traffic.
Aerial photograph of Britannia Tubular Bridge, Menai Straits, 1989
  • This pamphlet was published in 1849 and provides an account of the engineering works involved in the construction of the Britannia Bridge across the Menai Straits. The bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson, son of the locomotive pioneer George Stephenson, and was built to carry trains from the mainland to Anglesey. The construction of this 'tubular bridge' posed a number of difficult engineering challenges. The two iron tubes, which measured 472 feet long and weighed around 1800 tons each, were floated into position, then raised by hydraulic pumps to their final destination.
The Triumph of Science. An account of the Grand Flotation of one of the Monster Tubes over the Menai Straits, Britannia Bridge (1849) [image 1 of 10]
  • In the opinion of Colonel Pennant, the town of Bangor would have been at 'great risk' if the troops had not arrived when they did. He also strongly believes that immediate steps should be taken to press the case for having a Company of soldiers permanently quartered in the neighbourhood while the great construction work on the railways and bridges [Britannia Bridge] continues in the area.
Letter from Colonel G. W. Pennant to Lord Newborough, regarding the riot at Penmaen-mawr, 31 May 1846 [image 6 of 15]