Designed by the French engineer, Ferdinand Arnodin, the Newport Transporter Bridge was opened in 1906 and provides a road and pedestrian crossing of the river Usk allowing tall ships unrestricted passage. It comprises two steel towers, each of elliptical lattice-girder construction and 73.8m high, supporting a main boom of 196.6m span upon which runs a trolley. A moving platform, or gondola, which carries the traffic, is suspended from the trolley. The electrically-powered haulage winch can be controlled from a pilot house on the gondola or from the winding house at the eastern end of the bridge. The design gives a clearance of 54m above river level and it is one of two such bridges remaining in the UK, the other being at Middlesborough in the north of England.
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 01 May 2008.