The Cleddau Bridge
The Cleddau Bridge
The Cleddau Bridge avoids a detour of 48km around the upper reaches of the Cleddau waterways. Before the bridge opened in 1975, a ferry shuttled between the shores. The final version of the ferry could carry 24 vehicles and 250 pedestrians per crossing.
The development of the Milford Haven waterway as a centre for oil imports and refining was the catalyst to the bridge’s construction. The project included the smaller bridge over Westfield Pill, north of the main span. The £2.1m construction contract was awarded in September 1968, with the aim of completion by March 1971. However, a section of the bridge collapsed on 2 June 1970, killing four workmen but fortunately missing any people in the hamlet of Pembroke Ferry below.
Construction resumed in 1972. The bridge opened four years later than planned.
The photos, courtesy of the Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Wales, shows the bridge under construction. The upper photo shows the collapsed section in 1970 and is from the D.B. Hague Slide Collection of the National Monuments Record of Wales. The lower photo shows the central section being lifted into place at night in 1974, and is from the Central Office of Information Collection of the National Monuments Record of Wales.
In its first year of operation, c.886,000 vehicles used the Cleddau Bridge. In 2008-09 the bridge carried more than 4,600,000 vehicles. Bridge strengthening works and resurfacing were carried out from 2002 to 2004, at a cost of £4.4m.
The bridge’s main span is 213 metres long and provides at least 37 metres of headroom above the water. It carries the A477 road, the Wales Coast Path and National Cycle Network Route 4.
The bridge is owned and operated by Pembrokeshire County Council. A toll was charged for road vehicles (but not for pedestrians and cyclists) until April 2019, when the Welsh Government awarded the council £3m per annum to cover the loss of revenue.
Postcode: SA72 6EG View Location Map
Copies of the old photos and other images are available from the RCAHMW. Contact: nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk
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