Welsh castle footbridge restores 600-year old entrance

Unused for more than 600 years, an entrance to Harlech Castle, previously occupied by the original drawbridge, is now once again accessible after a new 46m-long steel footbridge was opened to the public.

Linking to a new visitor centre at the former Castle Hotel, the £6M bridge was funded through a Heritage Tourism Project and was built by contractor R.L Davies with S H Structures designing, supplying and erecting the steelwork.

The footbridge is an underslung triangular vierendeel truss that tapers between supports.

The bridge deck is 2m wide opening up to 3m above the support pier nearest the castle. This provides a viewing platform from where visitors can take in the views of Snowdonia.

“The narrow, twisting streets of Harlech provided a challenge when it came to delivering the bridge to site,” said S H Structures Sales and Marketing Manager Tim Burton.

“The bridge was therefore delivered in three sections which were installed individually using a mobile crane situated within the castle car park.”