Road transport Gallery

Second Severn Crossing JLP01_11_62048_06

Second Severn Crossing, M4 Motorway, New Passage, Pilning and Severn Beach, South Gloucestershire. A view of the Second Severn Crossing, looking along the deck of the bridge at night.

The Second Severn Crossing took four years to build and was a joint civil engineering project between Laing Civil Engineering and the French company GTM. The work started in April 1992 and the opening ceremony later took place on 5th June 1996. The crossing is a cable-stayed bridge which stretches over 5000 metres across the River Severn connecting England and Wales, 3 miles downstream from the Severn Bridge which opened in 1966

© Historic England Archive. John Laing Photographic Collection

White Gates Level Crossing MOT01_01_19

White Gates Level Crossing, Canning Town, Newham, Greater London. Vans and horse-drawn carts on the White Gates Level Crossing, and traffic queuing on Victoria Dock Road alongside the North Woolwich Railway, 1920s.
The White Gates Level Crossing provided vehicular access from Victoria Dock Road to the Royal Victoria Dock and Silvertown, crossing the North Woolwich Railway. In 1922 the average number of vehicles crossing White Gates in 24 hours was 2,852, an increase from 2,173 in 1904 and 2,496 in 1913. Due to closure of the gates for trains, road traffic was stopped for over 9 hours each day. The level crossing was therefore one of a number of bottle necks on the approach to the docks, which also included the narrow swing bridge at the west entrance of Royal Victoria Dock. It was not until the Royal Victoria and other Dock Approaches (Improvement) Act was passed in 1929 that work began on a new road scheme in the area

© Historic England Archive

Mercedes electric bus BL19992

Cut out of a Mercedes electric bus. Electric powered vehicles were first developed in the mid 19th century, but were superceeded by the cheaper and more reliable internal combustion vehicles. The first motorised buses appeared in London in 1902. The Milnes-Daimler model was a popular and reliable bus and numbered around 600 on the streets of London by 1907. The Bedford Lemere daybook records Charles Dewynter Ltd, advertising agents, as clients for this photograph

© Historic England