Old Motorway Photos

The M4 under construction in west London, where it crosses the A4. This looks far too big, as though it was superimposed later. Taken c1964.
Roger Maxwell

The A414 bridge under the M11, under construction c1974.
Roger Maxwell

Looking north along the M11, still under construction, from the A414, again c1974.
Roger Maxwell

Tolworth Tower as seen from the Kingston Bypass in 1963.
Roger Maxwell

Taken from the same point as the photo above, 39 years later, the Kingston Bypass has grown and so has the tower.
Roger Maxwell

The Orwell Bridge under construction near Ipswich - then for the A45, now carrying the A14. And a rather unusual vessel passing underneath! Image copyright 1982 East Anglian Daily Times.
Wally

An aerial shot as the bridge nears completion. Image copyright 1982 East Anglian Daily Times.
Wally

The main span completed, with some work needed on the approach viaducts.
Wally

Taken from one end - this really is a very impressive structure!
Wally

The M62 at Scammonden Dam shortly after opening - considerably quieter than today, and also in much nicer weather than usual!
Courtesy of Greg Taylor

The M62 passing either side of the famous farmhouse near Scammonden. This and the following 14 images are scans from a book published to celebrate the completion of the M62 across the Pennines.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

An aerial shot of the Scammonden Dam and Bridge. The dam was constructed with material excavated from the cutting in the foreground.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

Looking west from the Pennine Way overbridge at junction 22. The right hand carriageway now has a fourth climbing lane.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

One of the M62's two split carriageway sections as it crosses Moss Moor.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

Part of the Worsley Braided Interchange, showing the eastbound carriageway splitting for M61 and M62. The carriageway on the right now has three lanes. I wonder what the extra line on the M62 sign says?
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

One of the more neglected engineering features of the M62, mainly because motorists pass over it. This viaduct is just west of the Windy Hill section approaching junction 22 from Manchester.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

An aerial photo of the M62 passing through the Worsley Braided Interchange, which is so lightly trafficked that it's hard to tell whether the road was open at this point. The traffic levels on this road are considerably higher now!
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

Orange sodium catenary lighting illuminates the M62 passing through the M61 interchange.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

The Pennine Way overbridge near junction 22. Originally this unusual structure was going to be a plain footbridge, but the story goes that the Transport Minister of the time was a keen walker and demanded a more impressive bridge to be built at considerable cost.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

Underneath the impressive arched bridge at Scammonden. When opened, this was the longest single span non-suspension bridge in the world - and it simply carried a local road over a man-made cutting!
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

An aerial photo of the same bridge under construction. Minor details of the bridge's design were changed several times as construction was under way in order to accommodate the heavy snowfalls in this area.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

Part of the new reservoir created at Scammonden, with the M62 passing over the top of the dam.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

A wider aerial image of the new dam - grassed over on this side to reduce its visual impact.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

Looking east just beyond the dam, and it must be rush hour. There's so much traffic that a couple of overtaking maneouvres are in progress! Towards the right of the image is an early middle lane hog.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

Underneath one of the curving bridges at Worsley, carrying the M62 westbound to M61 sliproad over the M62 itself.
Courtesy of Terry Ogden

From one part of the M61/M62 interchange to another. These three photos were taken by one of the people employed to build the motorway in about 1970. The same bit of road, completed, is above; here the sign is blank on the left (where it should read M61) and on the right reads M62 (M66).
Photo by D. Dunwell

A little further along, the complexity of this three-way interchange becomes apparent. Catenary lighting has already been installed.
Photo by D. Dunwell

The northern part of the junction, with a gracefully curving flyover reaching ground level to the right. Lane markings are in place, but no hard shoulder.
Photo by D. Dunwell