The Motorway Achievement: Building the Network in Wales

Wales has less than one hundred of the two thousand miles of motorway constructed in Britain in the 20th century. However, the Principality can boast the first length of urban motorway, the first motorway tunnels, the longest rock tunnels, the first immersed tube tunnel, and major estuarial bridge crossings. Following an introductory chapter, this book describes the background, formulation, and implementation of the major roads strategy and comments on management of the built asset. The commentary in the concluding chapter reviews the past, the present, and the future. The overcoming of the engineering challenges and the successful completion of 80 miles of motorway in South Wales and 88 miles of near-motorway-standard dual carriageway in North Wales is celebrated in this book, which will appeal to all those with an interest in our civil engineering heritage.