River Dee (Wales) bridge names

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Ross Spur
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River Dee (Wales) bridge names

Post by Ross Spur »

I'm looking at the 3 crossings of the River Dee downstream from Chester. https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... 13&layer=0

The middle one is easy, it's The Blue Bridge or Jubilee Bridge from 1926, now B5441 https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... lue_Bridge

The westernmost bridge seems to be Flintshire Bridge opened in 1998 http://www.deeside.com/happy-birthday-f ... 1998-2020/

The Blue Bridge was superceded by the adjacent A494 bridge in 1962. Newspapers at the time described the new bridge as "Queensferry Bridge". OpenStreetMap describes it now as "Dee Bridge" as does this Welsh Government document https://gov.wales/a494-river-dee-bridge-overview Is it now known as "Dee Bridge" rather than "Queensferry Bridge".
Ian

From the SABRE Wiki: The Blue Bridge :

The Blue Bridge was a bascule bridge across the River Dee on the B5441 near Queensferry, Flintshire. The bridge is still used (but does not lift). The road has been superceded by the A494 dual carriageway bridge of 1962.

It was opened on 24 November 1926 by Colonel Ashley, Minister of Transport and was toll-free. It replaced Victoria Bridge, the previous toll bridge opened by William Gladstone in 1897, which was demolished.

It cost Flintshire County Council £100,000,

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Rambo
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Re: River Dee (Wales) bridge names

Post by Rambo »

I don't have the answer your question regarding names. One thing i have never found is a photograph of the blue bascule bridge open!
Here are a couple of my shots of the 'Afon Dyfrdwy' Airbus wing barge heading along the river. It was specifically designed to fit underneath all of the bridges. Sadly this river traffic has now ended.
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wrinkly
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Re: River Dee (Wales) bridge names

Post by wrinkly »

Ross Spur wrote: Tue Mar 02, 2021 20:28 The middle one is easy, it's The Blue Bridge or Jubilee Bridge from 1926, now B5441 https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... lue_Bridge
However, to muddy the waters, I have a note of tenders being sought for its refurbishment by Clwyd County Council in 1990 in which it was called Queensferry River Bridge. Undoubtedly the old bridge is meant - it's described as B5441. The central span is described as "a pair of Scherzer-type rolling lift leaves" (whatever they are) though "these are no longer operational". Clearly some authorities don't always make the effort to refer to bridges by their official names.
The westernmost bridge seems to be Flintshire Bridge opened in 1998 http://www.deeside.com/happy-birthday-f ... 1998-2020/
Flintshire Bridge is undoubtedly its official name though the responsible local authority was Clwyd County Council at the time it was planned, designed and tendered. The contract to build it was let round about Aug 1994, and Clwyd was abolished, and Flintshire and Denbighshire re-created, on 1 April 1996. The name was chosen some time after that and I think caused annoyance in some circles. However they could hardly have called it the Clwyd Bridge as the Clwyd is a different river.
The Blue Bridge was superceded by the adjacent A494 bridge in 1962. Newspapers at the time described the new bridge as "Queensferry Bridge". OpenStreetMap describes it now as "Dee Bridge" as does this Welsh Government document https://gov.wales/a494-river-dee-bridge-overview Is it now known as "Dee Bridge" rather than "Queensferry Bridge".
Incidentally the 1962 bridge was designed for possible conversion to a lifting bridge though of course that never happened.

From the SABRE Wiki: The Blue Bridge :

The Blue Bridge was a bascule bridge across the River Dee on the B5441 near Queensferry, Flintshire. The bridge is still used (but does not lift). The road has been superceded by the A494 dual carriageway bridge of 1962.

It was opened on 24 November 1926 by Colonel Ashley, Minister of Transport and was toll-free. It replaced Victoria Bridge, the previous toll bridge opened by William Gladstone in 1897, which was demolished.

It cost Flintshire County Council £100,000,

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Ross Spur
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Posts: 248
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Location: Swadlincote

Re: River Dee (Wales) bridge names

Post by Ross Spur »

Thanks for the replies and photos. I've gone with the names:

Dee Bridge (Queensferry)

Flintshire Bridge
Ian

From the SABRE Wiki: Dee Bridge (Queensferry) :


Dee Bridge or Queensferry Bridge is a girder bridge across the River Dee on the A494 near Queensferry, Flintshire. It was built to improve road communication between North Wales and North-west England. It superceded the adjacent single carriageway The Blue Bridge, a former bascule bridge built in 1926, which was renumbered to B5441.

There was one project to construct the bridge and the Queensferry Bypass. This provided a 1.5 mile dual carriageway from

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