Menai Strait

Menai Strait divides the Isle of Anglesea from the county of Carnarvon, North Wales, and is 14 miles long with a breadth varying from two miles to 200 yards. The depth admits of the passage of small vessels only. Until 1826, when Telford completed his suspension bridge (560 feet in length and 100 feet above the water), travellers proceeding to Holyhead on their way to Ireland were transported by ferry. In 1849-50 Stephenson and Fairbairn built the famous Britannia tubular railway bridge, one of the triumphs of engineering skill; the total span is 1,380 feet.