Newport Transporter Bridge 4.61

The Newport Transporter Bridge is a transporter bridge that crosses the River Usk in Newport, South East Wales. The bridge is the lowest crossing on the River Usk. It is a Grade I listed structure.It is one of fewer than 10 transporter bridges that remain in use worldwide; only a few dozen were ever built.HistoryThe bridge was designed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin. It was built in 1906 and opened by Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar on 12 September 1906.Newport Museum holds a silver cigar cutter which was presented to Viscount Tredegar on the day of the opening, as a memento of the occasion.Reason for the Transporter designThe 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 at the site.Principal dimensionsInterestingly for the time, a Corporation Of Newport drawing dated December 1902 is calibrated in metres.The height of the towers is 73.6m, and the height to the underside of the main girder truss above the road level is 49.97m. The span between the centres of the towers is 196.56m, and the clearance between the towers is quoted as being 180.44m; however, including the cantilevered sections, the main girder truss gives the bridge an overall length of 236m. The distance between the centres of the anchorage caissons is 471.06m. Power to propel the transporter platform or gondola is provided by two 35hp 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 196.56m total travel at a speed of,.