Pont Cysyllte

Location

The Pontcysylltau Carriage Bridge is on the River Dee in North Wales in the County of Wrexham, and is just 300 metres upstream from the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct on the B5434 Gate Road.

Structure and History

Built of sandstone, the carriage bridge has three arches spanning 180 feet. It carries single lane traffic on the B5434 36 feet above the River Dee. It is a sister to the famous Llangollen Bridge which was built at about the same time and of the same material and design. Although the Llangollen bridge accommodates two way traffic it was once a single carriageway too but was widened in the 1960s to accommodate two way traffic. There are four passing places for pedestrians, two on either side of and on the two main buttresses.

The carriage bridge was built in the 16th century and was one of only four bridges to span the Dee at that time, the other three being Llangollen, Bangor and Farndon bridges. In the 18th century was extensively used during the construction of the aqueduct to transport materials. It has stood the test of time and weathered a number of floods, the worse being the 1964 when all three arches were completely submerged by the flood waters which rose almost 20 feet.

Recent history

Known locally as BONT BRIDGE, Bont being derived from the Welsh for bridge "Pont"

The Carriage Bridge suffered some vandalism in recent years when a number of the heavy sandstone wall stones were toppled into the river below. They were replaced and strengthened.

The bridge carries about 1000 vehicles every day but that number can be as many as 3000 at peak times.