Newport Transporter Bridge

Mrs BB had invited her friend from work around who's retired. She went back as a civilian in the police control room but hated the job so after a few weeks, finished. She's worked for M&S late last year and has now gota job with NEXT and looking forward to starting. Mrs BB can't wait to finish in a few months.

I decided to let them gossip and went out for a couple of hours. I've been wanting to get a photograph of the Newport Transporter Bridge with the  'gondola' in the centre for quite some time. The bridge closes over the winter and just re-opened on 1st April. It takes quite a wide angle to get the whole bridge in when a couple of hundred metres from it, as it's quite high (242 feet) as well as wide (774 feet).

The design was chosen because the river banks are very low at the desired crossing point where an ordinary bridge would need a very long approach ramp to attain sufficient height to allow ships to pass under, and a ferry could not be used during low tide.

The bridge was designed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin and opened on 12 Sept 1906. 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.

I have walked across the main beam on a few occasions and love photograhing this Welsh icon. here is one walk across and another view is here .

I'm hosting Wide Angle Wednesday from the 13th. Photo's can be any theme but should be taken on the day and tagged 'widwed23'.