Kingston Bridge, Glasgow
| Kingston Bridge | |
|---|---|
Kingston Bridge, looking eastward up the River Clyde.
|
|
| Coordinates | 55°51′19″N 4°16′12″W / 55.85528°N 4.27000°WCoordinates: 55°51′19″N 4°16′12″W / 55.85528°N 4.27000°W |
| Carries | Motor vehicles only (motorway bridge) |
| Crosses | River Clyde |
| Locale | Glasgow, United Kingdom |
| Official name | Kingston Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Balanced cantilever with triple-cell segmented prestressed concrete box girders Designer: William Fairhurst Contractor: Logan-Marples Ridgway |
| Width | Dual five-lane carriageway each carriageway: 21m (68ft) |
| Longest span | 143 m (470 ft) (side spans 62.5 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | 26 June 1970 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 150,000 vehicles |
| Toll | Free |
The Kingston Bridge (Scots: Kingstoun Brig) is a balanced cantilever dual-span ten lane road bridge made of triple-cell segmented prestressed concrete box girders crossing the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. The largest urban bridge in the United Kingdom, it carries the M8 motorway through the city centre. The Kingston Bridge is also one of the busiest road bridges in Europe, carrying around 150,000 vehicles every day.
The name of the bridge referred to the erstwhile Kingston Dock which was located on the south bank of the river. It had been completed in 1867 between Windmillcroft Quay and the former headquarters of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society on Morrison Street in Tradeston, adjacent to where the bridge now stands. It was Glasgow's first enclosed dock. The dock was eventually closed to navigation in 1966, when work began on the construction of the Kingston Bridge; the basin was subsequently filled in and apartments built on the site. At the time of construction, however, the Clyde Port Authority still insisted that the bridge have a clearance height of 18 m (60 ft) in order to allow dredgers to go upstream as far as the King George V Bridge. The bridge was designed by William Fairhurst and built by Logan-Marples Ridgway.
The bridge connects Anderston and the city centre at Junction 18/19 with Tradeston and the Gorbals at Junction 20. It consists of two parallel spans, each 21 m (68 ft) wide, with each supporting a five lane deck. The eastern span carrying southbound traffic and the western span carrying northbound traffic over the river. The approaches to the bridge are also linked with many junctions of their own, including major city centre ramps and the M77, that are two lanes wide. The outer spandrels of the bridge are clad with exposed-aggregate panels showing vertical joints.
...
Wikipedia