Newport Transporter Bridge
Newport Transporter Bridge – I was driving back from Cardiff sometime this week with all of my camera kit in the boot, the sky was clear and as I was passing the bridge I noticed the river was smooth, the air was clear and the bridge lit up… so I just had to find a spot and get a shot!
One set of muddy shoes (probably ruined) and about an hour in the cold later I had a few shots and after a quick tidy up in Photoshop this is the best of them…
For those that are interested the bridge is open and can be used by the public. There is a very similar one (though younger) in Middlesbrough that was made famous by the team from ‘Auf Weidersehen Pet’ team as they sold it and re-built it in the USA (as if!).
I can remember my Grandad taking me across the Middlesbrough one when I was very very young and going on the Newport one brought back some very nice memories :)
Newport Transport Bridge
I apologise in advance if the (c) spoil the image for you – too many of my images have been copied from the web and used without my permission.
About Newport Transport Bridge
The height of the towers is 73.6 metres (241.5 ft), and the height to the underside of the main girder truss above the road level is 49.97 m (163.9 ft).
The span between the centres of the towers is 196.56 m (644.9 ft), and the clearance between the towers is quoted as being 180.44 m (592.0 ft); however, including the cantilevered sections, the main girder truss gives the bridge an overall length of 236 m (774.3 ft).
The distance between the centres of the anchorage caissons is 471.06 m (1,545.5 ft). Power to propel the transporter platform or gondola is provided by two 35 hp (26.1 kW) electric motors, which in turn drive a large winch, situated in an elevated winding house at the eastern end of the bridge. This winch is sufficient to drive the gondola through its 196.56 m (644.9 ft) total travel at a speed of 3 metres per second (9.8 ft/s).
This is the oldest and largest of the three historic transporter bridges which remain in Britain, and also the largest of eight such bridges which remain worldwide).
Thanks
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