Happy Birthday Flintshire Bridge – It was officially opened on March 6th 1998

Happy Birthday Flintshire Bridge – Deeside’s iconic bridge was officially opened twenty years ago today by Queen Elizabeth II

Flintshire Bridge, the ‘New Bridge’ or the ‘Bridge to Nowhere” call it what you want, there’s no denying the asymmetric cable-stayed bridge spanning the Dee Estuary is a thing of absolute beauty.

Work on the the bridge began in 1994 and was completed in 1997 at a total cost of £55m.

The 965 ft long bridge carries the A548 linking Flint and Connah’s Quay to the shore north of the River Dee at the southern end of the Wirral Peninsula, it reaches an impressive 387ft into the air.

The bridge was designed by the Percy Thomas Partnership, an award-winning British architectural practice which designed a number of landmark buildings in the UK including the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

It was paid for by the Welsh Office with maintenance costs later picked up by Flintshire County Council.

According to traffic data the bridge carries around 13,000 vehicles daily however that is set to increase as the bridge forms part of the Welsh Government “red” route – the preferred option for the A494/A55/A548 £200m upgrade.

The red route involves a new road between the A55 and A458 via the Flintshire Bridge and a new junction to join the A55 near Northop/Flint Mountain.

Given its iconic status and the sheer number of photographs taken and posted the bridge has its own ‘location’ on Instagram with some fantastic pictures taken above, on and below – if you’re on Instagram click the image below to see more.