The Dyfi Bridge (), also known as the Machynlleth Bridge, Dovey Bridge, Pont Dyfi or Pont ar Dyfi, is a road bridge across the

River Dyfi The River Dyfi (; ), also known as the River Dovey ( ), is an approximately long river in Wales. Its large estuary forms the boundary between the counties of Gwynedd and Ceredigion, and its lower reaches have historically been considered the b ...

north of

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a po ...

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It is described as "one of the finest bridges in

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

" by the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust.

History and description

The bridge was initially a timber bridge, built in 1533 using £6 13s 4d (10

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...

) given by

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

merchant Geoffry Hughes. It was rebuilt in stone in 1681 and rebuilt again in 1805. The bridge is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

and received a Grade II* heritage listing in 1952. The bridge carried the

A487 road The A487, officially the Fishguard to Bangor Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales that follows the coast from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the south, to Bangor, Gwynedd, in the north. Route The road starts at a junction with the A40 in H ...

across the River Dyfi between Machynlleth (

) and the

Corris Corris is a village in the county of Gwynedd, Wales, about north of the town of Machynlleth. The village lies on the west bank of the Afon Dulas (which here forms the boundary with Powys), around that river's confluence with the Afon Deri. ...

community (

Merionethshire Merionethshire, or Merioneth ( or '), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. Name 'Merioneth' is a ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

) prior to the opening of the New Dyfi Bridge upstream, after which it was closed off to vehicular traffic and the access road on the south side downgraded to an unclassified route, serving the adjacent fields, with responsibility for maintenance transferred to the local authorities. The bridge has five arches, with the two arches at the Machynlleth end reinforced with modern steelwork. It is wide and long.

New bridge

In 2011 a report was drawn up recommending the bridge was replaced or widened because of its strategic importance, as it had unsafe low parapets and a lack of footways, and had been repeatedly damaged by motor vehicles because of its poor sightlines. The recommendations were dismissed in favour of looking at options for a new bridge at a different location. On 19 May 2017 the Welsh government published a statement that a new bridge would be constructed about 500 m upstream from the current bridge. Work was scheduled to start near the end of 2018 and the completion of the bridge (being ready for traffic) was envisaged in the summer of 2020. The start date was subsequently delayed till at least 2019, with a public enquiry possibly required depending on the results of consultation. On 13 January 2020 the Welsh government announced that there would be no public enquiry, and construction would start in the summer of 2020 with estimated completion in summer 2022. Construction started in spring 2021 and the new bridge, named New Dyfi Bridge (), was opened on 2nd February 2024 by Welsh Deputy Minister for Climate Change

Lee Waters Lee Waters (born 12 February 1976) is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician who served as Deputy Minister for Climate Change from 2021 to 2024. He has served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Llanelli since 2016. Early life Waters gre ...

MS to vehicle traffic and pedestrians.

References

{{Commons category, Pont ar Dyfi, Dyfi Bridge Bridges completed in 1805 Grade II* listed bridges in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Powys Machynlleth Corris

Dyfi Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is a youth organisation in India. It was founded in its inaugural conference held from 1–3 November 1980 at Shaheed Kartar Singh Saraba village in Ludhiana, Punjab. DYFI was formed as an independent ...