The daring bridge that rewrote the engineering rulebook 200 years ago

It was built to ferry horse-drawn carriages across a notoriously wild stretch of water, and was a crucial connection between two island nations during Europe’s industrial revolution.

When it was constructed in 1826, the bridge across the Menai Strait, between the north Wales mainland and the island of Anglesey, was a vision of the future. Suspended between the 1,368-foot gap at a height of 102 feet, this was the world’s first road suspension bridge to start construction. By the time it opened, it was the longest in the world, and remained so until the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883.

Perhaps more incredibly, the Menai Strait Bridge — or Pont Grog y Borth in Welsh — is still in use, over two centuries later. It celebrated its 200th anniversary on January 30.

“While there are a fair few bridges that have lasted 200 years or more — there are even Roman bridges — none of them look like this,” says Kerry Evans, the chartered engineer who manages the bridge and the modern A55 road around it.

“That expression of freedom in terms of innovation and design to develop a structure — that was absolutely bonkers when you look back now.”

Designed by Thomas Telford, one of the earliest civil engineers in history, the bridge didn’t just connect Anglesey to the Welsh mainland; it was also part of a network that linked two capitals, Dublin and London. A law passed in 1800 had officially united Ireland with Great Britain, creating the United Kingdom, and there was political pressure to build easy transport links between the capitals.

Shepherd's son Thomas Telford started as a stonemason and became a formidable engineer. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Ferries ran from Dublin to Holyhead, on Anglesey; but crossing from there to the Welsh mainland, also by ferry, was notoriously tricky.