Second Severn Crossing

I took the photo above using my mobile phone while crossing the Second Severn Crossing. I was sat in a Toyota Supra doing 70mph so I am quite pleased with the result! I hasten to add that I was a passenger at the time and not driving - it would be hard to take a photo any other way as the bridge carries traffic only! The bridge carries the M4 motorway and connects England with Wales further south down the estuary from the original Severn Bridge which I wrote about not long back (you can view that post here).

So here are some facts about the bridge: It was inaugurated on 5th June 1996. The crossing is 3.186 miles (5.128 km) long in total, and the central bridge section you can see in the photo is of cable-stayed design with the approach viaducts being of a segmental bridge design. I love looking at the lines of the cables as I cross the bridge (as long as I'm not driving), they really draw your eye to the sky! The crossing forms a gentle S shape which you can see clearly when you travel from the English side as you approach it.

I clearly remember watching this bridge being built. I remember watching the two pieces from the land stretching out across the estuary until they met the middle section. Sub-assemblies for the bridge were constructed onshore and then shifted by a large tracked vehicle (similar to that used to move the Apollo and Space Shuttle onto a barge, prior to being floated-out on the high tide to the appropriate site. The section of bridge you can see in my photo and the centre of the pic above is over 900m long with two 149m high twin leg, reinforced and pre-stressed concrete pylons carrying 240 cables which support the bridge deck. The picture above was not taken by me but I thought it would be nice to show you the whole bridge. Personally I think it s best viewed by crossing it.

Border

I wanted to show you something that is kind of important to me. The photo above is of the Severn Bridge which crosses the River Severn from England near Bristol to Wales near Chepstow so this bridge is cool in that you can drive from one country and into the other which is a bit more spectacular than crossing this border any other way where all you get is a 'Welcome' sign. I took the photo above on a recent trip over. The weather was typically British for this time of the year in that it was showery and chilly but the sun was trying to break through the clouds.

The Severn Bridge was opened in 1966 to replace the ferry service crossing from Aust to Beachley. The new bridge provided a direct link for the M4 motorway into Wales and it has now carried more than 300,000,000 vehicles since it was opened. Over the years traffic flow increased and the bridge acted as a bottle-neck at the tolls. The problems were made worse by the occasional high winds, and the bridge still closes today in these conditions. It is for these reasons that the Second Severn Crossing was constructed and opened in 1996.

The bridge celebrated it's 40th anniversary last year and is very much a part of the history of the South West. I more often use the Second Severn Crossing these days which now carries the M4 (the original Severn Bridge carries the M48 motorway). Either way, these bridges are a vital link between England and Wales for the South West and they mean that traffic from this area do not have to detour around the estuary. If this were the case then I would not have gone to some of the places I have shown you as the journey would be too long so this is why it is important to me. I'll finish by sharing an ode written about the bridge by the Anglo-Welsh poet Harri Webb:

Two lands at last connected

Across the waters wide,

And all the tolls collected

On the English side.