Britannia Bridge Memorial - Treborth, Gwynedd, Wales
Posted by: 
Meirion
N 53° 12.858 W 004° 11.063
30U E 420910 N 5896764
A memorial to the original Britannia Bridge, Treborth, Gwynedd, Wales.
Waymark Code: WMF56Q
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/25/2012
Views: 2
The Britannia Bridge was built between 1846-50 to carry the railway across Afon Menai. The bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson and was a tubular construction of riveted iron box-girders which carried up and down trains. On the 23rd May 1970 the bridge was damaged by a fire started by children playing inside the bridge. Although still standing after the fire the bridge was no longer safe and train journey across the bridge ceased.
However the bridge was slowly re-designed as an arched bridge built around the core of Stephenson's original design. In 1972 a reduced rail service across the bridge was restarted. In 1978 the second phase of reconstruction began with the addition of a second level to carry traffic across the Menai Strait.
In 1980, almost 10 years after the fire, the upper road level opened to traffic.
The memorial consists of a section of Stephenson's original tubular bridge and a small section of track. There are three plagues at the base of the memorial. The memorial was paid for by the contractors and engineers who had worked on rebuilding the bridge after the fire.
The text of the plaques reads:
THIS SECTION OF ROBERT STEPHENSON'S
ORIGINAL TUBULAR BRIDGE WAR ERECTED
BY SUBSCRIPTION FROM THE ENGINEERS
AND CONTRACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE PRESENT
BRITANNIA BRIDGE
CONTRACTORS: THE CLEVELAND BRIDGE & ENG.CO.LTD
CEMENTATION CONSTRUCTION LTD, FAIRFIELD-MABEY LTD
FAIRCLOUGH CIVIL ENG.LTD, GREENHAM PLANT HIRE LTD
DISMANTLING & ENGINEERING LTD. T.G.ROBERTS, MASON
ENGINEERS: HUSBAND & CO. BRITISH RAILWAYS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
AGORWYD Y FFORDD DROS BONT BRITANNIA
GAN
EI UCHELDER BRENHINOL
TYWYSOG CYMRU KG KT GCB
AR
11 GORFFRNNAF 1980
THE BRITANNIA BRIDGE ROAD CROSSING
WAS OPENED BY
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS
THE PRINCE OF WALES KG KT GCB
ON
11TH JULY 1980
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The third plaque depicts the structure of the bridge as it was in 1850 and how the bridge looked after completion in 1980.
Type of Historic Marker: Memorial.
Age/Event Date: 07/11/1980
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Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Not listed
Related Website: Not listed
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