Humber Bridge - Bridge Statistics

Bridge Statistics

The bridge's surface takes the form of a dual carriageway with a lower-level foot and cyclepath on both sides, although traffic is often restricted to one lane both ways. There is a permanent 50 mph (80 km/h) speed limit on the full length of the bridge.

Each tower consists of a pair of hollow vertical concrete columns, each 155.5 m (510 ft) tall and tapering from 6 m (20 ft) square at the base to 4.5 m × 4.75 m (14.8 ft × 15.6 ft) at the top. The bridge is designed to tolerate constant motion and bends more than 3 m (10 ft) in winds of 80 mph (129 km/h). The towers, although both vertical, are 34 mm (1.3 inches) farther apart at the top than the bottom due to the curvature of the earth. The total length of the suspension cable is 71,000 km (44,000 miles). The north tower is on the bank, and has foundations down to 8 m (26 ft). The south tower is in the water, and descends to 36 m (118 ft) as a consequence of the shifting sandbanks that make up the estuary.

The bridge held the record for the world's longest single-span suspension bridge for 16 years from its opening in July 1981, until the opening of the Great Belt Bridge in June 1997, and was relegated to third place with the opening of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in April 1998. It is now the sixth longest single-span suspension bridge after two longer span bridges opened in China (the Xihoumen Bridge and the Runyang Bridge) and one in South Korea (the Yi Sun-sin bridge). It remains the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world that one can cross on foot or by bicycle. The bridge twice forms part of the route of the Humber Bridge half marathon.