WQ86561 (e) Tabled on 07/11/2022

What assessment has been made of the effect of the volume of traffic on the structure of the Britannia Bridge?

Answered by Deputy Minister for Climate Change | Answered on 14/11/2022

No additional assessment is required regarding the Britannia Bridge and the volume of traffic currently using it. Bridges are assessed for the worst-case traffic loading, such as fully laden HGVs travelling quickly in close proximity.  For a bridge assessment the full width of the carriageway is also used, so if you can physically fit in five lanes of HGVs across the width of the road on a bridge then that is used regardless of what lanes are actually marked out for use.

It is typically only where the carriageway is widened, or otherwise modified or as a result of deterioration that a bridge would have to be reassessed.