Road traffic could not cross the River Mersey at Runcorn until a transporter bridge was opened in 1905. It was the second bridge to be built across the River Mersey at this point. The Widnes & Runcorn Bridge Company was formed in 1899 to get this bridge built and work started on the bridge, designed by Warrington-born engineer John Webster in December 1901. The total cost of the bridge was £137,663 6s 4d (the cost today would be about £8 million).
It was a popular attraction and over 2000 people an hour were carried on its opening day. The transporter bridge moved vehicles and people from one side of the river to the other by using a large transporter car which was pulled by cable. The transporter car took two and a half minutes to cross the river and could carry twelve vehicles and 300 passengers.
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 The crowd at the opening of the Runcorn-Widnes transporter bridge |
The bridge was opened by Sir John Brunner, chairman of the Widnes & Runcorn Bridge Company, on 19 May 1905. The bridge had earlier been tested for strength when seven horses and five wagons of the mineral silicate weighing 36 tons were placed on it. The ownership of the bridge was transferred to Widnes Corporation in 1911 and the bridge was temporarily closed for an upgrade before re-opening on 21 May 1913.
In the late 1940s the transporter bridge needed further improvements and the increase in road traffic made things worse. By 1958 there were two million passengers, 150,000 private vehicles and 100,000 commercial (business) vehicles per year. The bridge was often closed in bad weather because the transporter car couldn't dock. Another problem was that the last car crossed the river at 11.30 p.m. so those wanting to cross the river late at night often had to either walk over the rail bridge footway or take a road detour via Warrington.
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| The last trip across the Runcorn-Widnes transporter bridge |
The last journey over the transporter bridge
The last fare-paying trip on the transporter bridge was made at 6 p.m. on 21 July 1961 and it officially closed the following morning when 250 specially invited guests made the last trip. The car was painted silver for the day and despite flags flying, hooting tugboats, a band, and ringing church bells, only a handful of people took any notice as they were more interested in the new road bridge which had been built alongside. The transporter bridge was demolished at a cost of £139,602 - £2000 more than it cost to build (it would have cost almost £2 million to demolish today). | 
