Severn Bridge Puts a Weight Limit on the Heavy Lifters

Starting May 27th, 2025, all vehicles over 7.5 tonnes will need to take a little detour—via the Prince of Wales Bridge—when crossing between England and Wales.

Why? Well, the grand old Severn Bridge has been feeling her age.

She's a grand old bridge!

Recent inspections of the M48 Severn Crossing found some wear and tear in her supporting cables. Nothing dramatic, but enough for National Highways to play it safe. So, to lighten the load (literally), they’re imposing a weight restriction that’s expected to stay in place for 12 to 18 months.

They’re also working on a clever medium-term solution to monitor and manage the number of heavy vehicles using the bridge in real time. Think traffic control, but for truck tonnage.

A Vintage Icon Bridge in a Modern World

Opened in 1966 by the late Queen, the Severn Bridge is more than just a link between two countries—she’s a Grade I listed beauty with some serious history. But like most things designed in the '60s, she wasn’t exactly built for the modern world of monster trucks and mega-lorries.

Back in the day, your average HGV weighed around 22 tonnes. Now? They can clock in at 44 tonnes—double the load, double the strain. It’s no wonder she’s asking for a bit of a breather.

To put it into perspective: in 2024, around 32,000 vehicles crossed the bridge every day. Of those, about 3,270 were HGVs over the 7.5-tonne limit. That’s a lot of weight to carry for a lady in her late 50s.

Still Open for the Essentials

Don’t worry—this isn’t a full closure. The Severn Bridge will still welcome emergency vehicles, scheduled buses, coaches, and recovery vehicles with open arms (or, well, lanes).

A Sign of Things to Come?

This whole situation begs the question: how many other parts of our road network are creaking under the weight of today’s super-sized fleet? Infrastructure built in a different era is having to rise to some hefty challenges.

But hey, if bridges could talk, the Severn would probably just say, “I’m not mad, just tired.”