Menai Suspension Bridge — Attraction in Wales

Menai Bridge is a small town on Anglesey over looking the beautiful Menai Strait.

The suspension bridge, which also called the Menai Bridge or Menai Suspension Bridge is impressive construction and can be walked across either direction where you can truly experience all its beauty and surroundings and watch the boats and canoes.

The Menai Bridge was completed on 30th of January 1826, the Menai Bridge was a triumph of civil engineering – the biggest suspension bridge in the world at the time. Sixteen huge chains held up 579 feet of deck, allowing 100 feet of clear space beneath. This suspension bridge was designed and built by Robert Stephenson.

Its total length is 417 metres, hight 30 metres and width is 12 metres.

It's not designed for huge cars or lorries though, as they won't fit through the arches on the bridge. We did squeezed through on our Maserati Quattroporte, phew! :)

We have parked just under the bridge, so was free of charge for us, but there are lots of parking you can find near by. Also at the Coed Cyrnol car park, which is down the road from the Telford Centre.

Really enjoyed our experience and definitely...

The Menai Straits is one of the most treacherous stretches of water in the world. Differential tides at either end of the Strait create strong currents and whirlpools four times a day, in both directions. Many small vessels have been sank in the Strait, leading to the loss of many lives. Cattle driven from Anglesey to markets on the mainland were encouraged to swim across the Strait, frequently leading to the loss of the animals. The Act of Union in 1800 joined Ireland to Great Britain and led to an increase of travellers heading to and from Dublin and London via Holyhead. In 1815, engineer Thomas Telford began work on the Holyhead Road. The site of the bridge was chosen as it was elevated enough to let sailing ships under. Construction began in 1819 with the two large towers at either end. The 176-metre span is supported by 16 huge chain cables of 5 parallel bars of wrought iron links, 935 per chain. They are fixed in place on either side by 9-foot bolts in cast iron sockets. The bridge finally opened in 1826 and reduced the travel time from London to Dublin from 36...

The Menai Suspension Bridge is simply stunning. It spans the Menai straits from the main land over to Anglesey. Its not without its problems though, currently it is under going some re strengthening work due to a lack of maintenance over the years, so extra supports have been put in place. It's going to be one lane only with traffic control inplace untill 2025, then hopefully she will be back to her full glory. If your planning a holiday to Anglesey or the near by area don't let this put you off, she still looks magnificent and is well worth a visit. You can see the bridge from a different view when you go on one of the local walks that takes you underneath the structure, this gives you a sense of her size from a different angle and an appreciation as to how she was constructed all those year back by Thomas Telford.

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