Major maintenance work is planned for Menai Suspension Bridge, with both sections of the footway requiring replacement.
The work will begin in mid-January 2021 and last approximately 23 weeks. A programme of repainting sections of the bridge will also be carried out.
In order to carry out the work safely, traffic crossing the bridge along the A5 will need to be reduced to one lane between 9am-3pm during the week, for the duration of the works.
On weekdays between 9am-3pm traffic crossing the bridge will be managed by two-way traffic signals. There will be no weekend works.
There are likely to be some 20 minute closures of the bridge overnight to allow ‘shot blasting’ of the paint in certain locations.
The footway on the side of the bridge being replaced will be closed for the during the works and pedestrians will need to use the opposite footway.
Bridge Construction
The Bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and construction began in 1819 with the towers on either side of the strait. These were constructed from Penmon limestone and were hollow with internal cross-walls. Then came the sixteen huge chain cables, each made of 935 iron bars, that support the 176-metre (577 ft) span.
To avoid rusting between manufacture and use, the iron was soaked in linseed oil and later painted. The chains each measured 522.3 metres (1,714 ft) and weighed 121 tons. Their suspending power was calculated at 2,016 tons. The bridge was opened to much fanfare on 30 January 1826.
Over the years, the 4 1⁄2-ton weight limit proved problematic for the increasing freight industry and in 1938 the original wrought iron chains were replaced with steel ones without the need to close the bridge. In 1999 the bridge was closed for around a month to resurface the road and strengthen the structure, requiring all traffic to cross via the nearby Britannia Bridge.
On 28 February 2005 the bridge was promoted to UNESCO as a candidate World Heritage Site. On the same day one carriageway of the bridge was closed for six months restricting traffic to a single carriageway so that traffic travelled to the mainland in the morning and to Anglesey in the afternoon. The bridge was re-opened to traffic in both directions on 11 December 2005 after its first major re-painting in 65 years.
For updates on the work follow the Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/Gwaith-Cynnal-a-Chadw-Pont-Borth-Menai-Suspension-Bridge-Maintenance-Works-101934785096036
