Through the Mists of Time
Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town in the south east of Cornwall, facing Plymouth over the River Tamar and is known as "the gateway to Cornwall". As the Tamar is met by her sister river, the Tavy, the estuary widens considerably to become the stretch of water known as the Hamoaze.
Although Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge has been carrying trains over the river from Cornwall into Plymouth since 1859, it wasn't until a century after this that work began to build the Tamar Bridge, which would carry road traffic across the river alongside the railway bridge.
The two neighbouring councils formed a 'special partnership' in 1950 to lobby the national government to fund a fixed crossing of the Tamar, but in the face of government inaction, decided in 1955 to go forward with the scheme themselves as a local enterprise financed from tolls.
When work finally commenced on the Tamar Bridge in 1959, it was the United Kingdom's longest suspension bridge at the time, measuring a total of 642 metres in length. It had three lanes, catered for a vehicle weight of 24 tonnes, and could cope with 20,000 vehicle crossings each day.
Between 1998 and 2001 the Bridge underwent a major revitalisation when it was both strengthened and widened. The work was undertaken while the crossing was open to traffic, ensuring adequate load carrying capacity for the future, and also adding an additional traffic lane and a dedicated pedestrian and cycle lane.
Then again in 2006, the tolling function was upgraded with a major refurbishment of the toll plaza, including a new canopy, and the introduction of electronic toll collection.
The bridge is now carrying over 16 million vehicles a year – over ten times that carried in the early years, and on a busy weekday over 50,000 vehicles use the crossing.
The Tamar bridge is in public ownership, owned and operated jointly by Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Councils and managed by Tamar Crossings, who also run the Torpoint Ferries. It was officially opened to road traffic on 24th October 1961. Various events are planned for the coming week to mark its 60th birthday.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-85OWo4wBI&t=32s
Through the Mists of Time
Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town in the south east of Cornwall, facing Plymouth over the River Tamar and is known as "the gateway to Cornwall". As the Tamar is met by her sister river, the Tavy, the estuary widens considerably to become the stretch of water known as the Hamoaze.
Although Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge has been carrying trains over the river from Cornwall into Plymouth since 1859, it wasn't until a century after this that work began to build the Tamar Bridge, which would carry road traffic across the river alongside the railway bridge.
The two neighbouring councils formed a 'special partnership' in 1950 to lobby the national government to fund a fixed crossing of the Tamar, but in the face of government inaction, decided in 1955 to go forward with the scheme themselves as a local enterprise financed from tolls.
When work finally commenced on the Tamar Bridge in 1959, it was the United Kingdom's longest suspension bridge at the time, measuring a total of 642 metres in length. It had three lanes, catered for a vehicle weight of 24 tonnes, and could cope with 20,000 vehicle crossings each day.
Between 1998 and 2001 the Bridge underwent a major revitalisation when it was both strengthened and widened. The work was undertaken while the crossing was open to traffic, ensuring adequate load carrying capacity for the future, and also adding an additional traffic lane and a dedicated pedestrian and cycle lane.
Then again in 2006, the tolling function was upgraded with a major refurbishment of the toll plaza, including a new canopy, and the introduction of electronic toll collection.
The bridge is now carrying over 16 million vehicles a year – over ten times that carried in the early years, and on a busy weekday over 50,000 vehicles use the crossing.
The Tamar bridge is in public ownership, owned and operated jointly by Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Councils and managed by Tamar Crossings, who also run the Torpoint Ferries. It was officially opened to road traffic on 24th October 1961. Various events are planned for the coming week to mark its 60th birthday.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-85OWo4wBI&t=32s