Chepstow’s Mabey Bridge Ltd – an international leader in steel manufacture for bridges, infrastructure and renewable energy – has turned its skills to creating the world’s largest and most impressive Christmas Cracker at its Newhouse site overlooking the Severn Bridge.

Weighing an astonishing 45 tonnes and at 25 metres in length the cracker will take some pulling. Manufactured from high quality steel 20cm thick and fabricated to exacting standards using Mabey Bridge’s state-of-the-art automated processes, the company still hasn’t devised a way of pulling it yet, although the design team has estimated that a force of 10,000 tonnes applied in opposite directions might be enough.

The statistics of the cracker take some beating. When the cracker is eventually pulled, the explosive sound will shatter windows within a five mile radius, while the joke contained inside is estimated to be even longer than the average Oscar acceptance speech. The paper hat included has a diameter of 20 metres and has been created using 63 metres of crepe paper.

Mabey Bridge is keeping tight-lipped about the gift contained inside, as Plant Director, Robin Stevens explains, “We don’t want to say what the gift is, suffice to say that at 3.5 metres in diameter and perfectly cylindrical, the cracker can easily accommodate gifts up to the size of motorbikes or even pianos.”

Since opening its £38m Newhouse facility in 2011, Mabey Bridge has established itself as one of Europe’s foremost manufacturers of wind turbine towers and other tubular steel products for the renewable energy market. The company continues to enjoy a global reputation as a leading designer and manufacturer of bridging and structural steel for infrastructure and employs 600 people at its three local manufacturing plants.

Mabey Bridge is undecided about producing boxed sets of the crackers.

Robin said: “Can you imagine the logistical nightmare of delivering a box of 12 of these?

“We have considerable experience delivering major steel structures by road, including an 80 metre drill conductor for use in Europe’s largest offshore wind turbine development, as well as major components for bridges and infrastructure. However, we need to be realistic here. Besides, you’re going to need a table the size of the Wembley pitch and a turkey the size of Godzilla or it’ll just look silly.”