English: Humber Bridge under construction, at Hessle Foreshore, Hessle, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Plans for a crossing of the Humber Estuary date back to the 19th century, but it was in 1966 that Barbara Castle, then Minister of Transport, sanctioned construction of this suspension bridge. Notoriously, the government was facing a difficult by-election in Hull at the time and the announcement was widely seen as a blatant election bribe. Nevertheless, construction began in 1973 and work was well advanced by the time of this 1980 view; the bridge was finally opened in June 1981. The cost was £151 million, well in excess of the original estimates. The bridge now carries about 6 million vehicles a year, but the tolls remain controversial and it is a moot point as to whether the whole enterprise has ever represented value for money.