Today, March 25 marks the 50th anniversary of the Cleddau Bridge opening to traffic with around 4.4million vehicles crossing by road a year.

The Cleddau Bridge is 820m long, with a main span of 213m and stands 37m above high water. It is one of the longest box girder type bridges in the world.

The long, wide and deep Milford Haven estuary divides the County into two parts and before the bridge was built the trip from Neyland to Pembroke Dock was 28 miles.

A ferry service was operated between the two shores by the County Council in the past, with 24 cars and 250 pedestrians able to travel each trip. However, with the growth of Milford Haven’s port and the construction of the nearby petrochemical facilities in the 1960s, 24 hour access was needed and the plans to build the Cleddau Bridge and the smaller bridge at Westfield Pill were started.

Building the Cleddau Bridge involved a £2.1million contract and also saw the tragic loss of life during its construction. On June 2, 1970 a 60m cantilever collapsed on the south bank, killing four people. This collapse lead to a complete change in design and construction standards for this type of bridge.

The bridge was eventually opened to traffic in 1975. In the first year of operation approximately 885,900 vehicles used the bridge. By year ending March 2009 this number increased to 4,600,407 which is the highest figure recorded.

For around 44 years, up to 2019, tolls were in place on the bridge and travellers paid a charge each way until Pembrokeshire County Council was successful in removing the tolls. An agreement was put in place with Welsh Government and the benefit of the removal has been felt by all bridge users.

Since April 1996 maintenance of the Cleddau Bridge has been the responsibility of Pembrokeshire County Council.

Day-to-day maintenance is carried out by a small team of Engineers and operatives based at the Bridge Office, which is manned 24/7 to enable fast implementation of high wind closures and any other emergencies.

Since the bridge was first built, some significant maintenance works have been carried out, including gantry replacement (1993), repainting (1991 and 2011), pier-top strengthening (2001), waterproofing and resurfacing (2003/4) and replacement of roller bearings with sliding (rocker) bearings (2014).

Maintenance costs on average £3.1million a year, based on an estimated 120 year design lifespan.

Maintenance of the bridge used to be funded entirely from the bridge tolls; now it is mainly funded from an annual Welsh Government grant.

Council Leader Cllr Jon Harvey said: “Fifty years on since its opening to traffic use of the Cleddau Bridge has not diminished, and its important contribution to economy of the County cannot be understated.”

Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services Cllr Rhys Sinnett added: “Within the engineering community the Cleddau Bridge is well-known for its unique design and for being the longest bridge of this type in the world.”