Dee Bridge (Queensferry)

This article is about Dee Bridge in Queensferry.
For other Dee Bridges, see Dee Bridge.

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 It superceded the adjacent single carriageway The Blue Bridge, a former bascule bridge built in 1926, which was renumbered to B5441.

Bridge and Bypass

The new bypass and bridge in 1963

There was one project to construct the bridge and the Queensferry Bypass. This provided a 1.5 mile dual carriageway from Higher Shotton (adjacent to Dee View) to Drome Corner, north-east of Garden City, then an at grade roundabout with A548. Carriageways were 24 feet wide.

Work commenced on 29 July 1960 and it was envisaged that it would open by August 1961. However there were weather delays because of a persistently wet period over the winter of 1961/62. It was opened on 2 March 1962 by Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport who cut the big white tape across the road at 12.40. He then spent the next 5 minutes in the middle of a surging crowd chopping the ribbon into pieces with his silver scissors and handing the bits out to bystanders as souvenirs. A bronze plaque was unveiled in the middle of the bridge.

The total cost of bridge and bypass was £900,000. Traffic censuses on the old bridge showed about 20,000 vehicles a day during the holiday period.

Bridge Detail

There are three spans. The centre span was designed as a lifting span if big ships started using the River Dee again. The lifting machinery was not fitted though.

The steel beam bridge had a width of 80 feet.

Links

Bridge renewal plans

• deeside'com report
• gov.wales page
• ukconstruction media report