Pont King Morgan, Carmarthen

For over a century, the station at Carmarthen has been isolated from the town on the other side of the River Towy (Tywi) and pedestrians and cyclists had to brave the main road bridge some 200 m to the east. This situation has now been rectified by the construction of a striking new cable stay bridge linking the Station direct with the foot of Blue Street at a cost of £2.8 million.

The bridge is of interesting design being supported by cables hung from two masts. The deck snakes its way across the river in a sinuous curve. Construction started in January 2005 and completion was expected in May 2005, but the theft of panels at a late stage caused a delay until June, and the bridge had only been open a few days when I visited. The official opening has still to take place. The bridge is named after the King Morgan brothers, chemists who did so much for the town of Carmarthen. One possibly unsuspected problem is caused by the strong westerly winds which blow uninterrupted up the broad plain of the Towy and make it difficult for cyclists to remain upright. Assuming cyclists have managed to ride across, they are still expected to dismount to traverse the ramp at the northern (town) end.

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Overview looking south towards the Station	The sinuous deck	Another view of the sinuous deck	The deck "bulges" round the masts	Pedestrians on the bridge (too windy for cyclists)
The parapet	Underneath the deck on the south side showing the support for the deck	Underside of the deck	End of the bridge on the north side, Now dismount!.	The Station (south end of the bridge)
Looking upstream to County Hall and the road bridge	Looking downstream across the wind-swept floodplain

 

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