Itchen Bridge

The ceremonial start of construction took place on 22 March 1974, with the Mayor of Southampton driving the first pile. Along with basic site preparation, the first job was the construction of two jetties, one from each bank, to the position in the Itchen where the two piers in the river would be built. The jetty from the east bank was built first; the one on the west bank was delayed by the need to fill in an area of shallow water known as the Chapel Inlet. Once preparation was complete 100 ft long piles were driven into the ground. Transport limitations meant the piles had to be brought in 50 ft sections before being welded together onsite. The piling process on the east bank of the…

The original plan was for the bridge to open on 1 May 1977 but construction fell behind schedule and instead it was opened 1 June 1977. Before opening to motor vehicles it was decided to hold a pedestrian-only day for people to examine the bridge. This was held on Tuesday 31 May 1977. The first member of the public across was 69 year old Mrs Edith Parks at around 13:30, with a general opening at 14:00. The bridge opened to motor traffic the following day, 1 June, at 10:30 with the mayoral car leading the way. Former Southampton MP Horace King, Baron Maybray-King decided to celebrate by being driven across in a horse-drawn landau. Southampton's buses started using the bridge on 12 June. The…