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\nIn 2016, the year marking the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Severn Bridge and the 20th Anniversary of the completion of the Second Severn Crossing, the website was launched to provide a permanent public display expanded with engineering detail for those who are interested and to provide information on the background to both bridges as well as information on earlier crossings of the Estuary. It celebrates the broad spectrum of engineering disciplines and other professions involved, and the environmental and construction achievements of these two crossings. The website has been added to since then but is now complete.<\/p>\nLike the story of the Union Chain Bridge Crossing the Severn Estuary presents an inspirational example of the work of engineers and what they can achieve and contribute to society.<\/p>\n
Stephen K. Jones<\/p>\n
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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CELEBRATING BRIDGES 6 July saw an international celebration following the conclusion of three years of restoration work on the Union Chain Bridge linking England and Scotland across the river Tweed and the unveiling of an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). There is also an important Welsh connection as all the ironwork was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[125,228],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3uR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7863,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7863","url_meta":{"origin":13445,"position":0},"title":"Welsh Engineering and A Guinness World Record","author":"Alan Williams","date":"2nd July 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS The World\u2019s Oldest Suspension Bridge And The Welsh Link On 26th July 2020 an event was planned to commemorate the bicentenary of the Union Chain Bridge, including the unveiling of an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark plaque by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/chain-bridge.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/chain-bridge.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/chain-bridge.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/chain-bridge.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1540,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=1540","url_meta":{"origin":13445,"position":1},"title":"IRON AND COPPER","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 This year; 2016, saw a number of engineering anniversaries impacting on Wales, most of which concerned bridges, the 200th anniversary of Chepstow Wye Bridge was celebrated on 24th July with a number of events including a re-enactment of the 1816 opening ceremony. Designed and built by John Urpeth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12635,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12635","url_meta":{"origin":13445,"position":2},"title":"\u00a0Neath Canals\u00a0","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Neath Canals\u00a0 This is an easy walk in the Vale of Neath, following the Neath Canal and back along the Tennant Canal. The river Neath is known to have been navigable to Neath town bridge for sea going ships since Roman times. The Neath canal was preceded by several smaller\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Picture6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Picture6.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Picture6.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8349,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8349","url_meta":{"origin":13445,"position":3},"title":"Footsteps – Draethen and Ruperra Castle","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Draethen and Ruperra Castle It was a hot day in early August when 4 of us parked in a woodland at Llwyn Hir, near Draethen and headed into the woods. We soon came across a tree with a large vertical hole in it where the trunk had split into two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture3.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture3.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture3.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14948,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14948","url_meta":{"origin":13445,"position":4},"title":"Brecon","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Brecon We started at the Canal Basin, home to Brecon theatre and car park, although you must pay there is a caf\u00e9 and good toilets. The theatre was built near the site of the town\u2019s racecourse in 1996. Theatre in Brecon goes back to 1699, after the restoration of Charles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13006,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13006","url_meta":{"origin":13445,"position":5},"title":"Place-Names Derivation – ABER, BRYN, CWM, PONT","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th March 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"THE DERIVATION AND MEANING OF PLACE-NAMES We\u2019ll now look at some common elements in Welsh Place-names. ABER I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen this element in many placenames. The word \u2018aber\u2019 means \u2018the confluence of two waters\u2019 and because so many places containing this word are situated on the coast, it is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Readers Articles of Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Readers Articles of Interest","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=228"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13445"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13447,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13445\/revisions\/13447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Picture12a.png?resize=290%2C300\")
<\/a>American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). There is also an important Welsh connection as all the ironwork was made in Wales, at the Pontypridd chainworks of Brown Lenox. Now 203 years old the extensive restoration work saw some of the ironwork replaced in a complex project costing \u00a310.5m. The bridge is now the oldest vehicle-carrying suspension bridge and with a 449ft (137m) span and was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it opened in 1820. It was designed by Captain Samuel Brown who introduced iron chain cables into the Royal Navy.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Picture14a.png?resize=188%2C300\")
<\/a> Tower, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge. Amongst the supporters were the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge who had campaigned for many years to support the preservation of the Union Chain Bridge and to conserve, protect and enhance its immediate environment for public benefit. See https:\/\/www.unionbridgefriends.com\/ and http:\/\/union chainbridge.org\/<\/p>\n