Bridging the gap

George street bridge spanning the River Usk on a cloudy but nice day.

It was opened on 9 April 1964 and is the first cable-stayed bridge in the United Kingdom.

Before its opening in 1964 the only crossings of the river Usk in central Newport were the Newport Bridge carrying the main A48 road and Newport Transporter Bridge.

Many grand names were proposed for the bridge but it was eventually named after the relatively small George Street on the western bank of the River Usk.

Originally the bridge was planned to be six lanes wide, but with the M4 motorway Usk bridge already planned further upstream it was reduced to four lanes.