IoM-Liverpool bridge dupes real engineers

Echo jape resounds with academics

Publishers of an academic book on structural engineering have been fooled by fake plans for a bridge between Liverpool and the Isle of Man.

Fictional designs for the 'Alf Priolo' bridge' (an anagram of April Fool), between the city's waterfront and Douglas were included in the Liverpool Echo newspaper as an April Fool's joke back in 2008.

However, plans for the imaginary structure have since appeared in an engineering textbook describing it as the third longest bridge in the world, spanning 432,960ft.

The Handbook of International Bridge Engineering mistakenly included the non-existent structure in a list beneath real-life bridges crossing China and Taiwan.

The Echo has sought comment from the publishers of book, after their jest went official.