Silver Jubilee Bridge

The Silver Jubilee Bridge spans the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal between Runcorn and Widnes in Halton. It is a through arch bridge with a main arch span of 330 metres. The bridge opened in 1961 to replace the Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge, which had become inadequate for traffic. In 1975–77 the carriageway was widened and the bridge was renamed to mark the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II. It carries the A533 road and has a cantilevered footway on one side. The bridge is listed at Grade II on the National Heritage List for England. The bridge transformed Runcorn from a dead end into a through route for traffic. Trade at the Port of Runcorn increased sixfold between 1960 and 1970. The bridge enabled the development of Runcorn New Town in the late 1960s and 1970s. Traffic rose from 40,000 vehicles a day in 1975 to over 80,000 before the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened. The bridge has been illuminated at night since 1994 and its deck was repaired using an electrolytic method shortlisted for a public building award. It has appeared in BBC drama Merseybeat, Netflix’s Stay Close and the film The Batman: Part II. Visitors see a steel through arch bridge painted light green. The main arch is 330 metres long and the side arches are each 76 metres. The bridge stands 87 metres above the river bed with 24 metres of headroom over the ship canal. The Runcorn approach viaduct is 328 metres long and the Widnes side is 152 metres. The bridge deck is suspended from the arch by 48 lock-coil wire ropes. On the Runcorn side the old West Viaduct has been replaced by a roundabout and new leisure and retail space.