BRIDGE GIANT PLAN BACKED
Welsh Government forwards man’s mythical design to consultants
PLANS for a statue of a giant mythical king to hold up the new crossing over the Menai Strait will be considered by those behind the bridge after they were backed by hundreds of people.
Almost 300 people signed a petition for the design featuring Bendigeidfran to be considered for the third crossing of the Strait.
As a result, the Welsh Government has agreed to forward the design to project consultants Aecom and Knight Architects.
Benji Poulton, a 37-year-old chartered civil engineer from Bangor, came up with the design.
He said: “Having visited the Welsh Government’s public consultation event, I saw that there were problems with each of the options they had put forward.
“Most of them were large cable stayed bridges, which threatened to spoil the views of the existing gradelisted Britannia Bridge.
“Their other option was a balanced cantilever bridge, which was less visually intrusive to the skyline, but wasn’t exactly pretty to look at as it looked a bit more like a motorway overpass.
“I drew up an alternative proposal based on the balanced cantilever bridge, but with the central support replaced with a statue of the giant from the Mabinogion tales, Bendigeidfran.
“It wasn’t until I drew the sight lines from Church Island, the Nelson memorial and the layby viewpoint that I realised that Bendigeidfran would be perfectly framed by the arches of the Britannia Bridge.”
Mr Poulton put together a video to explain the concept, and set up the petition to the Welsh Government.
In response to the petition, economy and transport minister Ken Skates said the proposal would now be included in the formal appraisal process alongside the original options.
“It is really exciting to hear that Pont Bendigeidfran is now being seriously considered,” said Mr Poulton.
“As well as adding resilience to the road network like the original options, this alternative proposal would bring with it many additional benefits.
“It would promote Welsh culture around the world, and adding another groundbreaking bridge to our Menai collection would also help promote tourism.
“This is a great opportunity to make our infrastructure work harder for us. If we are going to have a new bridge in this extraordinary landscape, then I think we need to make sure it is something a little bit special.”
In the Mabinogion, Bendigeidfran gathered his army to invade Ireland and rescue his sister Branwen.
While his men crossed the Irish Sea in ships, the giant king was able to wade across due to his stature.