The Humber Bridge held the world’s longest suspension-bridge span from its opening in 1981 until 1998.
It crosses the Humber estuary between Hessle on the north bank and Barton-upon-Humber on the south bank. The bridge’s main span measures 1,410 metres, and its total length is 2,220 metres. It was designed by Freeman Fox & Partners, with Bernard Wex as the design engineer.
The bridge opened on 24 June 1981. For seventeen years, it had the longest main span of any suspension bridge, surpassing the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The record passed to Japan’s Akashi Kaikyo Bridge when that structure opened in 1998.
The Humber Bridge carries the A15 road and has footways for pedestrians and cyclists. Its towers are made from reinforced concrete, while the suspended roadway is supported by two main cables. The bridge is often confused with the Severn Bridge, but the Severn crossing is a different structure linking England and Wales.