In pictures: The Kingston Bridge turns 50

The Kingston Bridge officially opened on June 26, 1970 and today road chiefs will make a bid to get the prominent route listed as a structure of historic and architectural interest.

The bridge cost £11m to build - in today’s money that amount could be as much as £180m - before it was officially opened by the Queen Mother following three years of construction.

It is 270m long, over 40m wide and crosses the River Clyde at a maximum height of almost 20m.

The bridge connects Anderston and the city centre at Junction 18/19 with Tradeston and the Gorbals at Junction 20.

It also allows traffic to continue on the M8 and M77.

Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, said: “The Kingston Bridge has become an iconic landmark in Glasgow over the half century it’s been in operation.

“The crossing played its part in taking a significant amount of traffic off the city centre streets and paved the way for the pedestrianisation of Sauchiehall Street, Buchanan Street and Argyle Street. There is no doubt it continues to play a vital role, carrying around 155,000 vehicles a day.

“The work that’s been carried out to ensure it continues to do this job in the future has also won civil engineering awards, so applying to have the Kingston Bridge listed seems a fitting way to mark its impact over the past 50 years.”

For many Glaswegians, the bridge has represented their achievements in the Great Scottish Run with traffic halted to allow runners to take a route over the iconic structure.

But its structure and how it is built is something which still fascinates city motorists which is why the Glasgow Motorway Archive in collaboration with Transport Scotland, is releasing a number of previously unseen photos of the Kingston Bridge from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Stuart Baird from the Glasgow Motorway Archive said:

“The Kingston Bridge was recognised as one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Scotland at the time, and it’s had a huge impact in shaping the city over the last five decades.

“Listing the bridge doesn’t simply acknowledge its unique engineering and architectural features, it also recognises the work of the people that designed, built and maintained it over its first half-century of service.

“The Glasgow Motorway Archive’s volunteers have really enjoyed this project, and look forward to sharing some brand new material on our social media channels, but we’re always keen to speak to people who worked on the bridge or other large roads projects across Scotland.”

Transport Scotland has applied to Historic Environment Scotland to have the Kingston Bridge listed as a structure of historic and architectural interest.

Elizabeth McCrone, Head of Designations at Historic Environment Scotland said: “The Kingston Bridge is a key part of Scotland’s first motorway and is one of the busiest road bridges in Europe.

“Scotland has a strong heritage of engineering achievements and the Kingston Bridge was designed by W. A. Fairhurst & Partners, one of the leading civil engineering firms of the period.

“We’d love to hear what the people of Scotland think about the proposal to recognise the Kingston Bridge as a listed structure and you can do this by going to our website and giving your views.”

Read more here http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/decision/500002708