Photo © Keith Taylor

The Humber Bridge was completed in 1981and held the record for the longest span in the world. Its record wasn't broken until 1998 when the Storebelt and East Bridge in Denmark was completed.  The Bridge is truly a work of art, with a main span length of 4,624 feet, it's the third longest single span suspension bridge in the world. 

It's also constantly moving, bending more than three metres in the middle in winds of upto 80mph, and the towers bend inwardly at the top. The bridge towers are 36mm (1.4 inches) further apart at the top than the bottom to take account of the curvature of the earth. The main cable contains 11,000 tonnes of steel wire - enough to stretch one and a half times around the world, a total of 43,000 miles, and the anticipated lifespan of the bridge is 120 years.

Before the bridge was built, the ferry trip across the Humber took a minimum of 20 minutes dependant upon the weather and tide. Sometimes boats got stuck on the sandbanks and the Humber Estuary was a barrier to trade and development between the two banks. Local interests campaigned for over 100 years for the construction of a bridge or tunnel across the estuary, and since 1981 the bridge has allowed quick access across the water with cyclists making use of it for the route southwards to Lincolnshire.

Information Keith Taylor and Ian Storey