Editing Humber Bridge (section)

==History==
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2018}}<!--many paragraphs and subsections without citations-->
Before the bridge, commuters crossed the Humber on the [[Humber Ferry]] from Corporation Pier at Hull and [[New Holland Pier railway station|New Holland Pier]] at [[New Holland, North Lincolnshire|New Holland]], Lincolnshire, or by road via the [[M62 motorway|M62]] (from 1976), [[M18 motorway (Great Britain)|M18]] (from 1979) and [[M180 motorway|M180]] motorways, crossing, by way of the [[Ouse Bridge (M62)|Ouse Bridge]], the [[River Ouse, Yorkshire|River Ouse]] near [[Goole]] (connected to the Humber).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kershaw |first1=Ronald |title=Humber Bridge will close the Hull communications gap |work=The Times |issue=58,660 |date=19 December 1972 |page=23|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> Until the mid-1970s the route south was via the single-carriageway [[A63 road|A63]] and the [[A614 road|A614]] (via grid-locked [[Thorne, South Yorkshire|Thorne]]) where it met the busy [[A18 road (England)|A18]] and crossed the [[Stainforth and Keadby Canal]] at [[Keadby Bridge]], a [[swing bridge]], which formed a [[Traffic bottleneck|bottleneck]] on the route, and on through [[Finningley]] and [[Bawtry]], meeting the east–west [[A631 road|A631]].

The journey was along straight single-carriageway roads across foggy moors interrupted by bottlenecks for most of the journey to [[Blyth, Nottinghamshire]], where it met the A1, and the accident rate was high. Debates in Parliament were held on the low standard of the route across the windswept plains around Goole. It was not unexpected that under these conditions, a Humber Bridge, with connecting dual-carriageway approach roads and [[grade-separated]] junctions, would seem worthwhile. By the time the bridge opened, much of this inferior route had been transformed by dualling of the A63 and its bypasses, extending the M62 and the connecting of the M18 from Thorne to [[Wadworth]]. The obvious need for a Humber Bridge had been reduced by the late 1970s with the improvements of the [[List of motorways in the United Kingdom|motorway infrastructure]] in the region. Although welcome, these improvements detracted from the need for vehicles to cross a bridge from Hessle to Barton. The Humber Bridge was a victim of the success of the M62 before it opened. A hovercraft service, ''Minerva'' and ''Mercury'', linked Hull Pier and [[Grimsby Docks]] from February to October 1969 but suffered relatively frequent breakdowns.<ref>{{cite news |title=New hovercraft service |work=The Times |issue=57488 |date=18 February 1969 |page=2|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>

===Act of Parliament===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Humber Bridge Act 1959
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to provide for the construction and maintenance of a bridge across the river Humber with approach roads and other works to constitute a Board and for other purposes.
| year                  = 1959
| citation              = [[7 & 8 Eliz. 2]]. c. xlvi
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 29 July 1959
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Eliz2/7-8/46/pdfs/ukla_19590046_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
Plans for a bridge were drawn up in the 1930s when a team of engineers compiled a report on whether to bridge or tunnel the estuary. It was decided that a bridge would cost £1,750,000 over a tunnel which was costed at £7,200,000.<ref>{{cite news |title=Crossing the Humber |work=The Times |issue=45459 |date=12 March 1930 |page=11|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> Revised plans were unveiled in 1955, but work did not begin until 27 July 1972.<ref>{{cite news |title=Humber Bridge Plan Revived |work=The Times |issue=53304 |date=20 August 1955 |page=3|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> The '''{{visible anchor|Humber Bridge Act 1959}}''' ([[7 & 8 Eliz. 2]]. c. xlvi), was promoted by [[Kingston Upon Hull Corporation]] and established the Humber Bridge Board to manage and raise funds to build the bridge and buy the land required for the approach roads.<ref>{{cite web |title=Humber Bridge Act 2013 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2013/6/enacted |quote=The Humber Bridge Act 1959 established the Humber Bridge Board ("the Board") and conferred powers on it to construct and maintain a bridge across the river Humber, together with approach roads and other works |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] on behalf of [[Government of the United Kingdom|HM Government]] |access-date=22 June 2018}}</ref>

===1966 Kingston upon Hull North by-election===
The allocation of funds proved impossible until the [[1966 Kingston upon Hull North by-election]]. Labour Prime Minister [[Harold Wilson]] prevailed upon his [[Secretary of State for Transport|Minister of Transport]] [[Barbara Castle]] to sanction the building of the bridge.<ref>{{cite news |last=Millward |first=David |title=Humber Bridge set to be electoral bribe again |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7560187/Humber-Bridge-set-to-be-electoral-bribe-again.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=7 April 2010 |access-date=22 June 2018}}</ref> Dismay at the long wait for a crossing led to Christopher Rowe writing a protest song, "The Humber Bridge".<ref>{{cite web |title=Songs for Humberside |url=https://www.goole-on-the-web.org.uk/vol2/songs-for-humberside.html |access-date=13 November 2022}}</ref>

===Design===
[[File:Humber Bridge under construction - geograph.org.uk - 1599900.jpg|thumb|The deck under construction in May 1980. The deck was erected between October 1979 and July 1980.]]
The [[consulting engineer]]s for the project were [[Freeman Fox & Partners]] (now [[Arcadis NV]]). Sir [[Ralph Freeman (civil engineer, born 1880)|Ralph Freeman]] had produced the first ideas in 1927 and in the early 1930s the cost of the project was estimated at £1.725&nbsp;million and that the bridge would be unlikely to recoup the construction or maintenance costs. In 1935 he had an idea for a {{cvt|4500|ft|m}} suspension bridge for the Humber Tunnel Executive Committee. Sir [[Gilbert Roberts]] produced more ideas in 1955 for a bridge with a {{cvt|4500|ft|m}} central span, costing £15&nbsp;million, to be paid for by [[East Riding County Council]] and [[Lindsey County Council]]. When it became likely that a bridge would be constructed, [[Imperial College London|Imperial College]]-educated [[Bernard Wex]] OBE (1922–1990) produced the design in 1964 that was actually built.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-27-mn-28-story.html|title=Bernard Wex; British Bridge Designer|date=27 August 1990|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref> The bridge was built to last 120 years.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Simpson |first=Dave |title=How we made the Humber Bridge |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/sep/17/strachan-stockwell-humber-bridge |work=The Guardian |date=17 September 2012 |access-date=22 January 2019 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The architect was R. E. Slater [[Royal Institute of British Architects|ARIBA]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Engineering Timelines – Humber Bridge |url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=76 |publisher=engineering-timelines.com |access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref> The administration building (for the tolls) was designed by Parker & Rosner. The landscaping was designed by Prof Arnold Weddle. [[Wind tunnel]] testing took place at the National Maritime Institute (now part of [[BMT Limited]]) at [[Teddington]], and the road deck was designed for wind speeds up to {{convert|105|mph|-1}}, but storms featuring considerably lower wind speeds have been cited as grounds for emergency repairs in recent years.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

===Construction===
The main contractor for the steel superstructure was British Bridge Builders (the same grouping as for the Forth and Severn Road Bridges comprising Sir William Arrol & Co., then a unit of NEI Cranes Ltd, [[Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company]], and [[Dorman Long|Redpath Dorman Long Ltd]]).<ref>{{cite news |title=Cleveland Bridge wins major contract to refurbish Humber Bridge |url=https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/business/business-news/cleveland-bridge-wins-major-contract-15960933 |newspaper=Gazette Live |date=12 March 2019 |access-date=18 September 2021}}</ref> The contractor for the concrete towers, anchorages and sub-structure was [[John Howard (civil engineer)|John Howard & Co Ltd]] of [[Chatham, Kent]], which was later bought by [[Amec Foster Wheeler|Amec]].<ref>"Bridging the Humber" {{ISBN|0 9501098 6 X}} {{Full citation needed|date=May 2014}}{{page needed|date=May 2014}}</ref> Concrete was chosen for the towers, instead of steel, partly due to cost, but also to suit the landscape.<ref name=":0" />

Work began on the southern approach road in July 1972 by [[Clugston Group|Clugston Construction]] of Scunthorpe. The {{cvt|2.5|km|mi}} approach road to the A1077 junction, by [[Costain Group|Costain]] Civil Engineering, began in September 1976. It included a {{cvt|320|m|yd}} span from the southern anchorage of seven pre-stressed concrete box sections and the A1077 junction, costing £4.25&nbsp;million. Work on the bridge substructure (foundations) began in March 1973. To reduce heat of [[Hydration reaction|hydration]] in the concrete, which produces [[calcium silicate hydrate]] from [[belite]], as much as 60 per cent of the [[Portland cement]] was replaced with [[ground granulated blast-furnace slag]] (GGBS). It took longer to build the southern anchorage due to a [[Slurry wall|diaphragm wall]] design due to there not being enough shallow bedrock. The main southern approach roads from Barton to the [[M180 motorway]] junction at [[Barnetby]] were built in the late 1970s by Clugston Construction of Scunthorpe, opening in 1978.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bonby, North Lincolnshire – Problem with your input |url=http://www.bonby.org/photos/photo?photo_id=412692 |url-status=dead |publisher=bonby.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007061758/http://www.bonby.org/photos/photo?photo_id=412692 |archive-date=7 October 2015}}</ref>

The towers were constructed by [[slipforming]] and the north tower was completed by May 1974. The southern foundations were completed in September 1975, with the pier completed in March 1976, and the southern tower was completed by September 1976; the bridge had been planned to open in 1976. The northern tower and anchorage was built on solid chalk but the southern tower and anchorage were built on fissured [[Kimmeridge Clay]], {{cvt|500|m|yd}} from the southern shore and built with a difficult [[Caisson (engineering)|caisson]] design. The subcontractor for the concrete was Tileman & Co. of [[Shipston-on-Stour]], south [[Warwickshire]].

Cable spinning took place between September 1977 and July 1979. Each cable weighs {{cvt|5500|t|LT}}, with 37 strands of 404 lengths of cable. The cable on the northern span has four extra strands. Each cable can take a load of {{cvt|19400|t|LT}}. The deck is of [[box girder]] form, the box sections around {{cvt|140|t|LT}} each. The first box sections were assembled in June 1975 and put into the main span on 9 November 1979. The toll buildings and north approach road were built by A.&nbsp;F. Budge of [[Retford]], Nottinghamshire, costing £2.9&nbsp;million. Work began on the administration building in November 1976. The toll system was manufactured by [[Siemens Plessey|Plessey Controls]] of [[Poole]], Dorset. Corrosion resistance on the steelwork was provided by Camrex Corrosion of [[Bellshill]], [[North Lanarkshire]]. The road was laid by [[Tarmac Group|Tarmac Roadstone]] of Wolverhampton with [[Asphalt concrete|mastic asphalt]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Machine layed mastic asphalt for Humber Bridge |format=PDF |url=http://www.ciht.org.uk/download.cfm/docid/561403E9-8292-4B16-8C4590E9D97D10E4 |journal=The Highway Engineer |date=July 1981 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006225703/http://www.ciht.org.uk/download.cfm/docid/561403E9-8292-4B16-8C4590E9D97D10E4 |archive-date=6 October 2015}}</ref> In 2017, the bridge was designated a [[listed building|Grade I listed building]].<ref name=BBC40626412>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-40626412/humber-bridge-given-grade-i-listed-status |title=Humber Bridge given Grade I listed status |website=BBC News |date=17 July 2017 |access-date=17 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1447321 |desc=The Humber Bridge |access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref>

===A-frames===
At road level the deck was fastened to the towers through four rocking [[A-frames]], to allow for movement caused by the [[catenary]] supporting the deck from above deflecting with the weight of passing traffic, from [[thermal expansion]], and from changes in [[Wind engineering#Wind loads on buildings|wind loading]]. The devices catered for a maximum deflection of 2 metres. By 2011 it was noticed that the [[Plain bearing|pivot-pin bearings]] carrying the frames had worn, allowing them to drop towards the support structure. Each frame was replaced by two new components: a vertical linkage to cater for longitudinal movement and a sliding bearing for lateral displacement.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Collins |first1=John |last2=Smith |first2=Daniel |title=A-frame rocker bearing replacement at Humber Bridge, UK |journal=Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Civil Engineering |volume=169 |issue=3 |pages=113–120 |date=August 2016 |doi=10.1680/jcien.15.00066 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Opening===
The bridge opened to traffic on 24 June 1981 at a final cost of £91&nbsp;million ({{Inflation|UK|91,000,000|1981|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-3}}).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kershaw |first1=Ronald |title=At a cost of £91m, the Humber Bridge opens |work=The Times |issue=60963 |date=25 June 1981 |page=32|issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref name="HBB History">{{cite web |title=Construction History |url=http://www.humberbridge.co.uk/explore.php |publisher=The Humber Bridge Board |url-status=dead |access-date=17 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206134602/http://www.humberbridge.co.uk/explore.php |archive-date=6 February 2006}}</ref> It was opened officially by Queen [[Elizabeth II]] on 17 July 1981, in a ceremony that included a prayer of dedication by the [[Archbishop of York]] and a fly-past by the [[Red Arrows]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="HBB History" />

===World record===
With a centre span of {{cvt|1410|m|ft+mi}} and a total length of {{cvt|2220|m|ft+mi}}, the Humber Bridge was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world for 17 years, until the [[Akashi Kaikyō Bridge]] opened in Japan on 5 April 1998.<ref name=itv/>

===Local benefits===
The road-distance between [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] and [[Grimsby]] fell by nearly {{cvt|60|mi|km|0}}; the town of [[Scunthorpe]] and environs were relieved of the passing traffic between Hull and Grimsby.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kershaw |first=Ronald |title=Not such a white elephant |work=The Times |issue=60773 |date=11 November 1980 |page=17|issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref name=itv>{{cite web |title=40 years since work began on Humber Bridge |url=http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2012-07-27/40-years-since-work-began-on-humber-bridge/ |publisher=ITV News |date=27 July 2012 |access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref>