The tops of the two concrete pylons that support Shoots Bridge are 137m above water level (100m above deck). The second crossing was closed in December 2009 for the same reason. Atkins and Maunsell & Partners (jointly the Second Severn Crossing Group) were appointed to examine potential bridge and tunnel solutions. The overall design of the new crossing makes it more resistant to high winds than the old Severn BridgeThe crossing was built by a business consortium under a Public-private partnership. It was therefore more efficient to do as much work as possible in locations unaffected by the river, so precasting and prefabrication was done at a 28.3 hectare site nearby. The Severn Crossing reverted to public ownership on 8 January 2018, run by Highways England.However, a report by the Department of Transport as part of the 2008–2010 Severn Tidal Power feasibility study carried out by the Department for Energy and Climate Change, Since it opened in 1996, the bridge has formed part of the M4 that connects England and Wales. The Second Severn Crossing (Welsh: Ail Groesfan Hafren)officially renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge (Welsh: Pont Tywysog Cymru)is the M4 motorway bridge over the River Severn between England and Wales, inaugurated on 5 June 1996 by the Prince of Wales to supplement the traffic capacity of the Severn Bridge built in 1966. The first motorway suspension bridge was inaugurated on 8 September 1966, and the newer cable-stayed bridge, a few miles to the south, was inaugurated on 5 June 1996. The Severn Estuary presented a barrier between the Bristol area and South Wales. The surveys also showed that the bridge had minimal impact on the roosting habits of most birds, though a flock of The consortium consisting of two civil engineering firms and two banks that funded and built the bridge had a 30-year concession to redeem its outlay from tolls collected from users of the bridge. It cost £330m to construct and was completed on time, to budget and — most importantly — without fatalities.

The two Severn crossings are regarded as the main crossing points from England into South Wales. Second Severn Crossing geograph-4155546-by-Lewis-Clarke.jpg 2,848 × 4,288; 8.31 MB.

Second Severn Crossing. The Shoots channel is the deepest section along the width of the Severn estuary, and a longer span was required to ease the passage of shipping under this section. The Second Severn Crossing marks the lower limit of the River Severn and the start of the Much of the estuary is mudflats at low tide, but at high tide these can be covered by as much as 14 metres (46 ft) of water. At the end of the concession period in January 2018, the bridge passed into public ownership,Tolls were collected from westbound traffic only, near It was reported in 2012 that the repayments were likely to continue until the early 2020s due to the introduction of a revised settlement to the operator in return for accepting payment by debit and credit cards.

The Second Severn Crossing — officially called the Prince of Wales Bridge — is a cable-stayed bridge located to the south of the original Severn Bridge. There are also 3m high baffles on each side of the bridge to deflect the wind.A monorail with rapid access train (RAT) was installed hanging beneath the crossing deck to facilitate inspection and maintenance, but it closed shortly after opening because cracks were found in the welds between steel rails.The Second Severn Crossing now carries more than 60,000 vehicles every day and is designed to withstand earthquake loading and ship impact. The two crossings are: Severn Bridge Prince of Wales Bridge, until 2018 known as the Second Severn Crossing. Although this delayed the project by ten weeks, the builders still completed the bridge on schedule two years later.Prior to the bridge's construction, environmentalists raised numerous concerns and criticisms, chiefly about the immediate damage from construction work and the effects of long-term pollution from a projected increase in car traffic. Pedestrians and cyclists are not permitted on the Second Severn Crossing. Individual strands are made from seven galvanised steel wires. A 2km haul road was laid on a causeway over the river bed to be used for access to the English side, and may still be seen at low tide.The crossing is 5.128km long overall and has a 37m navigational clearance to the water level. Atkins designed the motorway link roads at either end of the new crossing.The River Severn has the second highest tidal range in the world at 14.5m. The junctions at each end are designed for most traffic to use this crossing – to use the old The crossing is 3.186 miles (5.127 km) miles long, consisting of a single central navigation span over the "Shoots" channel and approach viaducts on either side. Each 180 tonne unit was test match bolted before being taken to site. Severn crossing is a term used to refer to the two motorway crossings over the River Severn estuary between England and Wales operated by Highways England. The approach viaducts are of a segmental bridge design. The concession given to the consortium which financed, built and operate the bridge required them to take over the outstanding debt on the original Severn Bridge and to operate the two bridges as a single entity. The construction process resulted in a temporary increase in turbidity of the Severn waters. The bridge is upstre The estuary has a maximum tidal range of 14.5 metres, the second highest in the world, and during a rising or falling tide there are strong currents of up to 8 knots.

Tolls were set annually by the government based on the previous year's change in the In 1988, it was announced that tenders would be invited from private The chief architect of the bridge was Ronald Weeks of the Cardiff based The deck, which carries three lanes of traffic in each direction, is 34.6 metres (114 ft) wide.