Of the eight working transporter bridges, three are in the UK

Like many of us I’ve a fondness for oddities. Our country is packed with them. I’ll nor attempt to provide a list, as I’m sure you’ll be able to recall some that, in your experience, have surprised, and amused.

One of these oddities is Transporter bridges which were popular at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. Of the sixteeen built between 1893 and 1916, only eight remain, and of this eight three are in the UK. This type of bridge was built to cross rivers where the approach roads were low level, and would therefore be impractical to to construct a fixed bridge, and high enough to allow shipping to pass beneath. They are also cheaper to construct than fixed bridges.

Last year we used the Bizkaia Transporter Bridge, not too far north of Bilbao in northern Spain. The bridge provides a crossing of the River Nervión between Portugalete and Las Arenas, part of Getxo. It’s a world heritage site, being the world’s first transporter bridge.

Over the coming days, I’ll write about each one. I’m intending to visit the bridges in the UK, which should be fun.

Here’s the list of the eight working transporter bridges, with the UK ones listed first.

• Newport Transporter Bridge crossing the River Usk in Wales.
• Tees Transporter Bridge crossing the River Tees at Middlesborough
• Warrington Transporter Bridge crossing the River Mersey
• Bizkaia Transporter Bridge crossing the River Nervión in northern Spain
• Rochefort-Martrou Transporter Bridge crossing the River Charente in France
• Osten Transporter Bridge crosses the River Oste in Germany
• Rendsburg High Bridge crossing the Keil Canal in Germany
• Puente Transbordador de La Boca crossing the Matanza River in Buenos Aires, Argentina