Clifton Suspension Bridge - toll road bridge in Bristol

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Clifton Suspension Bridge will undergo a ^1 million revamp over the next nine months (link below.)
http://thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=20006638&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922

[tramway]

It feel it's a shame that Newport's heritage 'Transporter' bridge isn't given the same level of support. 

http://www.fontb.org.uk/

http://www.newport.gov.uk/_dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=transporter.whatsnew

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

The toll for crossing Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge and paying with cash is to double from 50p to ^1.

The proposal will go to the Department for Transport for approval and, if this is given, then the increase will come into force later this year.

A spokesman for the bridge trustees said regular users could still make savings with a prepaid crossing card.

But a spokesman for the National Alliance Against Tolls argued the increase was not needed.

"I would urge any bridge user who thinks they are going to be affected by the toll increase to make their feelings known to the Department for Transport.

'Bridge illuminations'

"If people don't object the rise will just go through unchallenged.

"And we feel the toll money shouldn't be spent on bridge illuminations or visitor centres which have nothing to do with the cost of crossing," he added.

The bridge is run as a charitable trust and receives no money from government, local authorities or the lottery.

The trustees of Brunel's iconic bridge say ^8m needs to be spent on vital repair and maintenance work over the next 10 years in addition to the ^1m cost of running the bridge each year.

The bridge is used as a popular short cut between Leigh Woods and Clifton.

In recent years the number of users has fallen by 20% and it is believed this is due to increased use of public transport, park-and-ride services and people cycling more.

The toll for motor vehicles has been 50p since January 2007.

[inspector_blakey]

Any suggestion that NAAT might be a bit of a tinpot, rent-a-quote bunch will quickly be debunked by a look at their highly professional and bang up-to-date website, www.notolls.org.uk.

[TonyK]

I stopped using it at 50p.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Telegraph:

Clifton Suspension Bridge? That's in San Francisco, right?

Many Britons are unable to correctly place some of the country's best known landmarks, research finds


Bristol^s Clifton Suspension Bridge, designed by the Victorian architect Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is misidentified by one in 10 Londoners as San Francisco^s Golden Gate Bridge.  Photo: ALAMY

An embarrassing number of Britons cannot tell the difference between the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)^s landmarks and those situated in foreign countries, research suggests.

More than half of us (55%) confuse the Lake District^s Wastwater lake with Lake Geneva in Switzerland, while Portsmouth^s Spinnaker Tower is believed by 48% to be in Dubai, a survey found.


San Francisco^s Golden Gate Bridge

Bristol^s Clifton Suspension Bridge, designed by the Victorian architect Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is misidentified by one in 10 Londoners as San Francisco^s Golden Gate Bridge.

The poll of 2,000 UK adults by First Great Western, the train operator, also found that Christchurch College, one of Oxford University^s best-known institutions, is thought to be in France by 16% of Britons, while the world-famous open air Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, Cornwall, is believed to be in Athens, Greece, by almost a third (32%).

Appletree Bay, a picturesque spot on the Isles of Scilly, was located by 30% in the Maldives instead. Almost one in 10 attributed images of the Isles of Scilly to East London^s Isle of Dogs.

Philip Edgerton, head of marketing at First Great Western, said: ^We live in a fantastic country but this research shows that many of us simply aren't aware of the amazing places on our doorstep just waiting to be discovered.^

[JayMac]

Another piece of Brunel designed engineering was affected by the weather today. For the first time in living memory the Clifton Suspension Bridge was closed due to high winds. Like all suspension bridges it is designed to afford some movement due to wind, but the bridge trustees decided that today's movement during the peak of the wind speeds down the Avon Gorge was too severe to allow vehicles and pedestrians onto the bridge.

When the wind blows perpendicular to a suspension bridge it rarely sways from side to side. Instead the wind sets up what is known as aeroelastic flutter and causes the bridge to oscillate with a transverse wave motion. One side rises, the other falls, twisting the deck. Within design paramaters, not an issue. Beyond them, or poorly designed in the first place and you get this. No suggestion that the CSB will ever behave as violently as the Tacoma Narrows Bridge though. Brunel and the builders of the CSB, despite not knowing at that time the effects of aeroelastic flutter, had the foresight not to design and build it with solid girder sides.
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-26155392

[JayMac]

A couple of hairy landings at Bristol Airport on 14th February:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVB-F4v1czE

Nerves of steel from the pilots, particularly those in the turboprop Dash 8.

[SandTEngineer]

.....you've obviously never landed in a Dash 7 at Plymouth airport when it was open then.  Much worse than that on a good day.....

[chuffed]

Patrick McLoughlin has approved the application for the tolls to be revised. Letter and inspectors report on the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) website

[Brucey]

Is the toll still 50p currently?  If so, that is a huge increase.

I remember hearing that the law allows a 5p toll to be charged to pedestrians, although this was never collected.

[Red Squirrel]

I remember paying 2d as a pedestrian...

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Clifton Suspension Bridge fireworks: Thousands mark 150 years


Isambard Kingdom Brunel's famous structure first opened 150 years ago

Thousands of people have celebrated the 150th anniversary of the opening of Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge.

A fireworks display on Sunday night is part of a two-day celebration of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's structure.

A one-minute silence was held before the display, following the death of Bristol mother Charlotte Bevan and her baby girl earlier this week.

The Grade I-listed bridge, which spans the Avon Gorge, first opened to the public on 8 December 1864.

On Monday, a "modest re-enactment" of the opening celebrations 150 years ago will take place.


The skies above the Avon Gorge were lit up by fireworks

[Cynthia]

Just a quick comment to say how much I like the picture BNM has as his signature at present.  I can see this bridge in all it's illuminated glory from my daughter's guest bedroom window (she lives in Southville)  There's something magical about that bridge at night.  Not that it's any less impressive during the day!  Being a country girl I'm not normally keen on town/cityscapes, but this is one beautiful structure.  Good old IKB^▸ (Isambard Kingdom Brunel).

[JayMac]

Thank-you Cynthia! 

The picture is there to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the bridge. Opened on 8th December 1864.

And for posterity, as I'll no doubt change my avatar at some point, here's the image: