Britain’s engineering genius immortalised

IT redefined the boundaries of suspension-bridge technology when it was completed in 1981, more than a century after the notion of a bridge or tunnel crossing the Humber estuary had first been debated.
A close up of the Humber Bridge stampA close up of the Humber Bridge stamp
A close up of the Humber Bridge stamp

And now the Humber Bridge has been immortalised on a new first class stamp.

It is part of a series of ten stamps featuring some of the UK’s most dramatic bridges, launched by Royal Mail today to celebrate the leaps in engineering that have seen the country’s bridges evolve from humble stone crossings to dramatic and symbolic landmarks.

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Also among those featured are the Tees Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough, and Robert Stephenson’s High Level Bridge in Newcastle/Gateshead.

All ten stampsAll ten stamps
All ten stamps

The oldest is the Tarr Steps, which crosses the River Barle in Exmoor National Park and is believed to date from the 15th or 16th century, while the Peace Bridge, in Northern Ireland, was completed in 2011. The Menai Suspension Bridge, completed in 1826, links the island of Anglesey to the mainland in North Wales, and is described by Royal Mail as one of the most breathtaking ever built in Britain.

The complex construction of the Humber Bridge, by consulting engineers Freeman Fox & Partners, took nine years. Over 2,200 metres long and with a central span of 1,410 metres, it was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world for 16 years.

Royal Mail said its mighty scale, elegant minimal form and the fact that it leaps across one of England’s great natural boundaries captured the imagination.

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Andrew Hammond, head of stamps and collectibles at Royal Mail, said: “The story of Britain’s engineering genius can be found in its bridges. These new stamps celebrate 10 beautiful and ground-breaking landmarks that span centuries of our history.”

Royal Mail have also issued a special postmark to mark the stamp set, and Royal Mail Vans in each bridge location carrying an image of the new stamp.