High times? Giddy more like.
Like many here, I did many high bridges in Britain: in my case, the Forth Bridge a few times, the Humber only twice and the (original) Severn Bridge many times. All of them have one thing in common: they all span estuaries or wide stretches of water and they all have to be high enough to allow shipping below or to span high ground; consequently, it gets breezy up there even on a calm day (come to think of it, the Avonmouth Bridge could get unnecessarily exciting at times). When the wind gets up, it gets frankly upsetting.
A few ātripsā I still remember (all in high-volume rigids - I can only imagine driving a tautliner artic on the same day) over the Severn on a blustery day or night:
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Lightly-loaded or empty (canāt remember) Bedford TL860 luton heading east. I steered into the increasing wind coming up the Bristol Channel from Chepstow and then I encountered the first pylon - you cannot wind off right rudder in an Armstrong steered wagon fast enough and I lurched into the right lane and by the time Iād half-corrected that, the pylon effect had gone. Eek.
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Year or so later, heading east again, windy, TL860 (turbo!) luton - not my first rodeo. Most of the way up, a gust comes by and the wagon ahead (16T box van) lurches left and all but stops. I think Iām right in saying you werenāt allowed to pass another lorry on that bridge but I did cos all I wanted to do was get off that infernal thing
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Heading east again, year or two later in one of the DAFs I drove (DGS probably) with a backload of bog roll from Bowaters Brigend (pardon the alliteration, might not have been Bowaters. Or Brigend. But it was bog roll). Windy, 20mph speed limit. Got past the first pylon and then it got quite unnecessary nearing the top: the steering went a bit odd and I thought āoh heckā so what do you do? You lift all your weight out of the seat and lean against the (driverās) door (true story).
Perhaps this belongs in āTall tales and trueā, but you tell me.
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When the wind was really high I authorised and advised my drivers with curtainsider wagon and drags when empty to open and pin back the back (and front in the case of the drags) doors and do likewise with all the curtains. Each lorry was provided with straps to accomplish this.
Although they frequently crossed the Welsh and Scottish bridges and also the Pennines, such extreme measures were rarely needed and we never had any emergencies with them.
On several occasions I tied the doors and curtains back in high winds, especially with 4m high curtain-siders which were often the worst.
Yes, it was just the curtains at first but then I was worried about the pressure on the roof with the back doors shut.
No such luck with us in van-sided wagons. I daresay the likes of FOX removals had to deal with high winds over the Severn bridge much more often than I did. IIRC the diversion was via Chepstow to Gloucester (2 hours) and if you were going east, thatās the thick end of five hours off your logbook/ tacho.
Iām a youngster here, but I remember Scammonden in the early 80s
That was the way we did it before the bridge was built, and I had the misfortune to spend a night in the awful transport cafe in Gloucester, canāt remember the name but it was individual rooms with no doors off a long drafty corridor with a door to the street at the end. Never again.
Tachos not invented and logbooks a movable feast. 
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Iām no yoof nor nothing but ābefore the bridge was builtā is a bit before my time.
As you know, logbooks are still a thing here and Iāve got one and (on the odd occasion I have to fill it in) itās infernally complex. Just fit a bloody tacho and be done with it (personal opinion).
When I said logbooks I was slightly in error, I should have said logsheets, because in my early days on the road each firm designed and printed/photocopied their own. No sequential numbering and quite often drivers had multiple logsheets just covering the current session and if not stopped, merely substituted another set as they went along. The only problem was āsilent checksā where Ministery men would hide behind hedges and record reg. nos., times and places. Then a visit would be made weeks or months later and relevant dated logsheets demanded. The poor TM didnāt know which ones to give them.
BTW I know I pre-dated the first bridge because I delivered steel for it to the large yard they used on the Welsh side. 
Crumbs, thatās going back a bit. The how and the whereby must have involved a lot of planning, not to mention some disturbance, itās not like the A48 was ever all that.
It opened in '66, so it would obviously be before then, I was working for Ilkeston Haulage at the time with a Scammell Highwayman and a 33 foot trailer I think.
And no doubt 45ft lengths of steel propped up on the headboard!
Ha ha I donāt think so, too far back to remember exaclty but I think more likely to be some sort of steel panels.
The headboards on those trailers were bow shaped because of the proximity of the back of the cab, remember those Highwaymen were bonneted with the engine out front.As much of our work was whisky in hand balled cartons it made it a bit of a problem to make a neat load.