The Britannia Bridge, a railway bridge spanning the Menai Strait, was designed and built by Robert Stephenson in 1850. A catastrophic fire in 1970, caused by boys playing with a burning torch, destroyed its iconic rectangular tube sections. The bridge was rebuilt as a steel truss-arch bridge with a road deck above the railway. This program explores the bridge's history, the impact of the fire, and its rebuilding.
Britannia's Burning: Fire on the Bridge
In 1970, a series of unfortunate events led to a massive fire engulfing the Britannia Bridge, caused by a group of careless boys who accidentally dropped a burning object onto the structure.
