All about Widnes, Home
 

Widnes Transporter Bridge

Following the construction of the Manchester ship canal in the early 1890's the ancient rowing ferry crossing the Runcorn Gap was no longer viable due to the canal wall. In 1899 the Widnes & Runcorn Bridge Company was established under the chairmanship of Sir John Brunner to investigate alternatives. They opted for a transporter bridge at one third of the cost of a high level bridge.

A transporter bridge consists of a high-level gantry along which a wheeled trolley moves. A cargo-carrying platform suspended under the trolley travels at ground level. Traffic enters the platform at one side of the bridge, and the trolley carries it to the other side.

The Widnes-Runcorn bridge was one of only three transporter bridges of this scale built in the UK, Meccano of Liverpool based their Super Model Transporter Briddge on it and it became a favourite toy of budding engineers the world over.



The suspended platform known as the car was 18 meters and 8 meters wide. It was designed to carry 4 two-horse farm waggons and 300 passengers.The bottom of the car was 4 meters above high water level clearing the ship canal wall by 1.5 Meters. it had a span across the Mersey of 305 metres with The bridge towers standing 58 metres above high water. The main cables supporting the bridge were 30 centimetres thick and weighed 250 tons. A power house was built within the tower on the Widnes side to provide power for the trolley motors and is now a Widnes listed building.

Closure of the ferry and construction of the bridge was approved by an Act of Parliament in 1900 it was designed by John Webster and John Wood and constructed between December 1901 aand 1905 at a cost of £130,000 The Widnes-Runcorn transporter bridge was opened by on 29 May 1905 but although it was a magnificent feat of Edwardian engineering there were problems with the suspended car which would often be closed down in high winds. The company failed to make it pay and in 1911 it was bought by Widnes Corporation who made a number of improvements over the years, as the operators of the bus department they created an integrated transport service, with a Corporation bus stop at the bridge ticket office. Unfortunately on the Runcorn side the nearest bus stop was over a mile away.

King George V was a passenger on the bridge in 1925 and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 1958. By the late 50's it was obvious that it was inadequate for the growing needs of the region, and plans were made to replace it with the Runcorn-Widnes Bridge a fixed high-level bridge, which opened in 1961 after which the transporter bridge was demolished.Prior to closure it was making 49,000 journeys, carrying 280,000 cars, 145,000 commercial vehicles and over 2 million passengers per year.

43 Comments:

Anonymous said...

More of a quetsion than a comment. I was just wodnering why the transporter bridge was demolished. I get why it was closed down (unprofitable and unfit compared with Silver Jubilee) but surely it cost even more money to take it down?

Anonymous said...

The 'Planners' in Widnes were, and still are, driven by greed. Democratic debate and the wishes of the residents of Halton, are classed as a nuisance and are unwelcome. Therefore, in order to stifle any possible opposition and to prevent future discussion. Anything that stands in their way is demolished as soon as possible. 'Das Kapital' is the council Bible and compulsory reading for its officials.

Anonymous said...

Halton Borough Council never did place much importance on it's heritage, look what they are doing to the old town hall building and that is a grade II listed building, the old transporter bridge in my opinion would have been something of a tourist attraction, I am not saying it should have been kept running, but stood as a monument to Halton B.C.

Jihn said...

The councillors of Widnes and Runcorn, I think had qualifications in stupidity. The demolition of the transporter was a desecration to the history of Runcorn and Widnes. As a kid riding the transporter was great fun.

Ken said...

Does anybody know what was in the "powerhouse" and when and why the traction motor was moved from the trolley to a winch house on the Widnes side?

jethro said...

widnes was n is a suburb of Halebank .

Anonymous said...

I know this site gives quality based posts and other stuff,
is there any other web page which presents such stuff in
quality?

My webpage: mens jewellery

Anonymous said...

I create a comment whenever I like a article on a website
or if I have something to add to the conversation. Usually it's caused by the sincerness communicated in the article I browsed. And after this post "Widnes Transporter Bridge". I was actually excited enough to post a thought :-) I do have 2 questions for you if it's okay.
Could it be just me or does it give the impression like some of the comments look as
if they are written by brain dead people? :-P And,
if you are posting on other online social sites, I would like to follow anything fresh you have
to post. Would you list all of your communal pages like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?


my homepage - clear

Anonymous said...

All gamеrs will fіt On that pοint preѕently exіѕtѕ numerouѕ оnline games to dгop Gο a fiddling
lіke hеirloom Poweг train in Worlԁ
of Warcraft.

Also vіѕit mу webpage :: game

Anonymous said...

The accomplishment gaming food market or everyday gаmеs grocery, as
it іdeas for thе motіon-ρiсture show Lilo and Stitch released
in 2002. It was the beginning webgame I plaуed anԁ thеy

Alѕo ѵіѕit mу webpаge game

Anonymous said...

I know this site gives quality depending posts and additional data, is there any other website which
provides these kinds of information in quality?


Also visit my web page: xerox 8560 review

Anonymous said...

Hello would you mind sharing which blog platform you're using? I'm looking to start my own
blog in the near future but I'm having a tough time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I'm looking for something completely unique.

P.S Apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!



My web-site: xerox 8560 error codes

Anonymous said...

I've recently been detected with bladder cancer and go through that it takes some time to create.

Also visit my website :: xerox phaser 8560 ink

Anonymous said...

THANKS A LOT FROM THE CORE OF HEARTS OF JEWELLERS
!

Here is my web page: danon jewellery israel

Anonymous said...

Hey there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers?
My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many
months of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?


Feel free to surf to my blog - pilgrim jewellery online

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your facts.
Not a problem installingl the vist64
vehicle driver.

Here is my website ... xerox phaser 8560mfp

Anonymous said...

Ah, have no idea exactly how I missed that concerning the model variety.
Though the amusing thing is that the unsigned driver on the ML-1210 page is additionally model 3.
01. Anyhow, I will certainly upgrade the blog post to make this a little additional clear.


my web blog :: recoveryradio.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

My personal favorite valuables in a shop would be the owl studs as well as the llama
studs. And coordinating pendants, of course Totally cute!


my web-site ... ,cheap costume earring jewelry

Anonymous said...

bookmarked!!, I really like your web site!


Also visit my site: xerox 8560 mfp

Anonymous said...

Wonderful work! That is the kind of info that are
meant to be shared across the web. Disgrace on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!

Come on over and discuss with my site . Thank you =)

Here is my webpage ... xerox 8560 yellow

Anonymous said...

Nice do business, Aaron. I took care of to keep my
Lexmark E210 printer (an ML-1210 clone) working along, now in Home windows
8.

Visit my blog - xerox phaser 8560

Anonymous said...

Hai like samsung 3d led tv i want this 32 tv wher is ther in coimbatore.



Check out my page LG 42ls5600 TV

Anonymous said...

Yes, you can do this IF your Christmas card listing is in data source format AND you understand ways
to collaborate with Mail Merge in your word processing program.

Or else, this is the thrust for my tip. Yes, it takes time in advance the first year, yet afterward it is
cake.

My website - http://hemineko.net/

Anonymous said...

Hello! Quick question that's totally off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My blog looks weird when viewing from my iphone4. I'm trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to fix this issue.
If you have any recommendations, please share. Thank you!


Feel free to visit my page - Private Cloud Computing

Anonymous said...

Sir, pls send out that video to my e-mail I.
D. It will certainly be help ful 2 make pcb
easy. Thankyou.

Stop by my blog post: paolotortorella.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

Many thanks match, operated like a beauty. This has actually been doing my head in for days !

!

Here is my blog post :: xerox phaser 8560 error codes

Anonymous said...

This іs a topіс which is near tο my hеart.

.. Tаke care! Where are your сοntact details though?


Mу webρage; facebook free

Anonymous said...

Thks man, there are still good fellows, cya.

Take a look at my webpage; xerox phaser 8560 printer

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't really obtain the pet spend surprising. Many pet focused businesses in the last decade are extremely successful. My mom comes with a old business colleague that started a skin care line for dogs, and she or he is swimming in their own millions. Amazing. I spent my money and efforts on my three angels and hubby. My poor dogs were once more neglected.

My blog ... a1articleplace.com

Anonymous said...

not discovering motorist.

My web blog ... xerox phaser 8560

Anonymous said...

drugs and their negative effects, teaching diabetics the way to inject
insulin, assisting hypertension patients with managing
their blood pressure, along with the remedy for certain conditions such

Feel free to surf to my site - ,cheap earrings online uk

Anonymous said...

I'd like to find out more? I'd care to find out some additional information.



Also visit my homepage :: Hultquist Necklaces - hultquistjewellery.jux.com -

Anonymous said...

Information reply, Cindy. From reading slightly to the Weller site,
There's no doubt that the acid core solder could be harmful to the tips. Not sure. However, I couldn't find
the Studio Pro to tin the end.

Also visit my web site; silver jewellery manufacturer

Anonymous said...

This piece of writing will assist the internet users for building up new website or even a blog from start to end.


Feel free to surf to my blog; xerox 8560 solid ink

Anonymous said...

i require motorist HP Colour Laserjet 2605.


Also visit my web-site :: xerox phaser 8560 manual *Http://youthhubcity.com*

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Carolina! I'm bored at work so I decided to check out your website on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the knowledge you provide here and can't wait to take a look when I get home.
I'm amazed at how quick your blog loaded on my mobile .. I'm not even using WIFI, just 3G .
. Anyways, good blog!

Here is my website ... best hosting companies

Anonymous said...

I really love your blog.. Great colors & theme.
Did you build this web site yourself? Please reply back as I'm wanting to create my very own site and want to find out where you got this from or just what the theme is called. Many thanks!

Here is my homepage: pilgrim jewellery northern ireland :: Dar64487mc.freeblog.Hu ::

Anonymous said...

If you desire to obtain a great deal from this piece of
writing then you have to apply these strategies to your won weblog.


Look into my blog: hultquist rings (jimdo.com)

Anonymous said...

I love locating fresh websites with well toned
written content. I'll make sure you visit regularly have a look at!

Here is my web-site; ,cheap wood earrings

Anonymous said...

Good day,
Exactly how can I fix my problem?
That I couldn't connect the LaserJet 1018 printer to my PS tried every little thing and I then reinstalled the printer vehicle driver and it wont operate's.
if they aren't going to sustain a printer, it should be on the box.

my webpage; xerox phaser 8560 printer ()

Anonymous said...

love the birds and hearts necklace

my blog - silver jewellery ()

tosat said...

this content replica wallets go to website Ysl replica bags her comment is here high end replica bags

Unknown said...

article source bags replica gucci Recommended Reading buy replica bags basics https://www.dolabuy.ru/

Get published on All about Widnes

Do you have something intersting to write about the town? Then please send your article and pictures to aboutwidnes@gmail.com

We reserve the right to edit or reject any article.