Severn Bridge

The first proposal for a bridge across the Severn, approximately in the same location as that eventually constructed, was in 1824 by Thomas Telford, who had been asked to advise on how to improve mail coach services between London and Wales. No action was taken, and over the next few decades the railways became the dominant mode of long-distance travel, with the Severn Railway Bridge at Sharpness being opened in 1879 and the main line Severn Tunnel in 1886. The growth of road traffic in the early 20th century led to further calls for improvements, and in the early 1920s Chepstow Urban District Council convened a meeting of neighbouring local authorities to consider a Severn crossing to ease…

Construction started in May 1961; construction of the superstructure started 12 months later. At the time, there was also discussion in Liverpool of a similar suspension bridge over the River Mersey. The first construction equipment arrived on the banks of the Severn on Monday 17 April 1961, at Beachley and Aust. Equipment of John Howard Ltd would arrive by train at Chepstow railway station, from the Forth Road Bridge site. The same equipment for making the cables on the Forth Road Bridge was brought down to the Severn site. The bridge parapet, with two miles of railing and 1,200 steel safety barrier posts, was built by Bayliss Jones & Bayliss (BJB), part of GKN, of Cable Street,…