We have already seen the longest bridges in the world and you might have noticed that none of them are from the UK! Well, this post counteracts that by looking into the ten longest bridges in the UK and where they are located...
Ten of the UK's Longest Bridges and Where to Find Them10 - Medway Viaduct Bridge (M2 Motorway) (Length: 152m, 500ft)
Wiki Info: Opened on 29 May 1963, by Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport, the Medway bridge formed a key piece of the M2 motorway. It originally had a six-lane (two London-bound, two coast-bound, two hard shoulder) formation. In addition, a footpath either side that doubled as a small service road for maintenance and pedestrians. These footpaths are part of the North Downs Way, offering panoramic views of the Medway Valley and beyond. During the M2 widening, the original bridge was refurbished and strengthened. The central span, which was made from concrete beams, was replaced with steel girders. The concrete beams were lowered down on to a river barge underneath. As part of the M2 widening, the original bridge had street lighting fitted to it for the first time.
9 - Menai Suspension Bridge (Length: 176m, 579ft)
Wiki Info: The Menai Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge to carry road traffic between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. The bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826 and is a Grade I listed building. Before the bridge was completed in 1826, the island had no fixed connection to the mainland and the primary means of access to and from Anglesey was by ferry across the fast flowing and dangerous waters of the Menai Strait.
8 - Tyne Bridge, Newcastle (Length: 162m, 531ft)
Wiki Info: The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The Bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, and was built by Dorman Long and Co. of Middlesbrough. The bridge was officially opened on 10 October 1928 by King George V and has since become a defining symbol of Tyneside. It is ranked as the tenth tallest structure in the city.
7 - Clifton Suspension Bridge (Length: 241m, 708ft)
Wiki Info: The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a world-famous suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and the River Avon, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset. Since opening in 1864, it has been a toll bridge; the income from which provides funds for its maintenance. The bridge is built to a design by William Henry Barlow and John Hawkshaw, based on an earlier design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and contributed to by Sarah Guppy. It is a grade I listed building and forms part of the B3129 road.
6 - Runcorn-Widnes Bridge (Length: 330m, 1,082ft)
Wiki Info: The Silver Jubilee Bridge, "Runcorn-Widnes Bridge" or Runcorn Bridge crosses the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Runcorn Gap between Runcorn and Widnes in Halton, England. It is a through arch bridge with a main arch span of 361 yards (330 m). It was opened in 1961 as a replacement for the Widnes-Runcorn Transporter Bridge and was initially known simply as the Runcorn Bridge or Runcorn-Widnes Bridge. In 1975-77 it was widened, after which it was given its official name in honour of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. It carries the A533 road and a cantilevered footway. The bridge is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
5 - Tamar Bridge, Saltash (Length: 355m, 1,100ft)
Wiki Info: The Tamar Bridge is a major road bridge over the River Tamar between Saltash, Cornwall and Plymouth, Devon in southwest England. It is 335 metres (1,099 ft) long, running adjacent to the Royal Albert Bridge, and part of the A38, a main road between the two counties. During the 20th century, there was increasing demand to replace or supplement the Saltash and Torpoint ferries, which could not cope with the rise in motor traffic. After the Government refused to prioritise the project in the 1950s, it was self-financed by Plymouth City Council and Cornwall County Council.
4 - Firth of Forth Bridge (Length: 521m, 1,710ft)
Wiki Info: The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, 9 miles (14 kilometres) west of Edinburgh City Centre. It is considered an iconic structure and a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in 2016) and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was designed by the English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. It is sometimes referred to as the Forth Rail Bridge to distinguish it from the Forth Road Bridge, though this has never been its official name.
3 - Severn Bridge (Length: 988m, 3,240ft)
Wiki Info: The Severn Bridge (Welsh: Pont Hafren), sometimes also called the Severn-Wye Bridge, is a motorway suspension bridge spanning the River Severn and River Wye between Aust, South Gloucestershire in England, and Chepstow, Monmouthshire in South East Wales, via Beachley, Gloucestershire, which is a peninsula between the two rivers. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and Wales and took three-and-a-half years to construct at a cost of £8 million. It replaced the Aust ferry.
2 - Forth Road Bridge (Length: 1,006m, 3,300ft)
Wiki Info: The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge, opened in 1964, spans the Firth of Forth, connecting Edinburgh, at Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry. It replaced a centuries-old ferry service to carry vehicular traffic, cyclists and pedestrians across the Forth; railway crossings are made by the adjacent Forth Bridge, opened in 1890.
1 - Humber Estuary Bridge (Length: 1,410m, 4,626ft)
Wiki Info: The Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, England, is a 2,220-metre (7,280 ft) single-span suspension bridge, which opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. When it was opened, it was the longest of its type in the world; it was not surpassed until 1998, with the completion of the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, and it is now the eighth-longest.