Newport’s iconic transporter bridge has been a part of the city’s landscape for over a century, and it’s brand new visitor centre is finally nearing completion. After budget issues, contractor changes and adverse weather, the council are confident it’ll be finished in just a few months.
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00:00Built all the way back in 1905, the transporter bridge here in Newport was an engineering
00:08marvel when it was first built, and it's one of just a small amount left on the entire
00:11planet. It's the biggest in the UK, just a few metres taller than the other famous one
00:15in Middlesbrough, and the visitor centre you can see just next to it is finally close to
00:19being finished. The council say the experience of the visitor centre will be around telling
00:25the story of the bridge and the site that it sits on, and tells the story of people
00:28who worked on its construction, as well as those who used to cross the river every day.
00:33The plans first hit a snag in 2022 when they had to hire a new contractor at short notice,
00:39and estimates show that the entire project has gone over budget by roughly £5 million
00:43over the years. Bad weather and of course the cost of living crisis added to the problems,
00:48but by early 2025 the council hope that schools and community groups will be able to see the
00:53visitor centre for the first time, with more of the project to be finished by the summer.
01:00It really is a remarkable structure. It was designed to let taller ships pass through
01:03the usp, which it sits across, with the docks just behind the bridge. Over the years people
01:08have been able to travel across the top of the bridge, with the gondola being open for
01:12decades before closing as part of the current work. Personally I have memories of travelling
01:18across the gondola with my family as a young kid, and there'll be plenty more people from
01:22Newport and across South Wales who'll remember taking a trip back and forth, and there'll
01:27even be people who used to use the bridge as a genuine means of transport across from
01:31the pill site over here, over to the industrial sites across the backside of the river. People
01:36from Newport are proud of this piece of history, and with the visitor centre there's plenty
01:40of hope that this will become a genuine tourist attraction, bringing engineering enthusiasts
01:44especially, but just people visiting South Wales into Newport to see what is unarguably
01:49one of the most impressive bridges anywhere on the planet. What a sight to behold.