We Come in Pairs
The Royal Albert Bridge
In 1846 the Cornwall Railway Act received Royal Assent and one of the stipulations was that the ferry at Saltash should be replaced by a railway bridge thus linking Cornwall to the rest of the UK by rail.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was appointed as chief designer and engineer. His challenge was to build a bridge to span the River Tamar which at this point is some 1100 ft wide. At first he intended to construct a single span bridge of 850 ft but the constraints imposed by the Admiralty ruled this out. These demanded the deck of the bridge be 100 feet above high tide and that the river remain fully operational to the Navy at all times.
Having considered several plans he decided that the bridge should have a single pier mid stream which would support 2 spans and a further 10 approach spans on the Cornwall side and 7 on the Devon side.
It was originally intended to carry a two way track but the Cornwall Railway Company had insufficient funds – the reduction to a single track saved £100,000. After the first contractor went bankrupt, Brunel decided to take on the contract himself.
An adapted diving bell, into which compressed air was then pumped, allowed up to 40 men to work underwater at any one time. First they had to excavate 12 ft of mud followed by 3 ft of rock before a suitable foundation was located. Work then began to build the central tower of brick. On July 4th 1853 the foundation for the first of the Cornish piers was laid by the Mayor of Saltash.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert officially opened the bridge on 2nd May 1859.
Brunel did not attend the opening due to ill health. He finally crossed his bridge on an open wagon two days later, but died later that year.
Tamar Bridge
The Tamar Bridge is a suspension bridge in the south-west of England, carrying the A38 trunk road across the River Tamar spanning between the City of Plymouth on the east bank and the town of Saltash on the west bank.
The Bridge is in public ownership, being owned and operated jointly by Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Councils. These Joint Authorities formed a special partnership in 1950 to lobby 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.
The work was completed after two years and three months at a cost of £1.5 million, with up to 300 men working on the structure. The Bridge was opened to the public on 24th October 1961, and was formally opened by the Queen Mother on 26th April 1962 in a grand ceremony involving a fly-past and two naval frigates.
Since that time the Joint Committee has continued to operate and maintain the Tamar Bridge, and between 1998 and 2001 the Bridge underwent a major rejuvenation when it was both strengthened and widened. The work was undertaken while the crossing was open to live traffic, ensuring adequate load carrying capacity for the future, and also adding an additional traffic lane and a dedicated pedestrian/cycle lane.
More recently, during 2006, the tolling function has been upgraded with a major refurbishment of the toll plaza, 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. The construction, operation, maintenance and improvement of the crossing continue to be financed from toll income.
Adapted from
We Come in Pairs
The Royal Albert Bridge
In 1846 the Cornwall Railway Act received Royal Assent and one of the stipulations was that the ferry at Saltash should be replaced by a railway bridge thus linking Cornwall to the rest of the UK by rail.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was appointed as chief designer and engineer. His challenge was to build a bridge to span the River Tamar which at this point is some 1100 ft wide. At first he intended to construct a single span bridge of 850 ft but the constraints imposed by the Admiralty ruled this out. These demanded the deck of the bridge be 100 feet above high tide and that the river remain fully operational to the Navy at all times.
Having considered several plans he decided that the bridge should have a single pier mid stream which would support 2 spans and a further 10 approach spans on the Cornwall side and 7 on the Devon side.
It was originally intended to carry a two way track but the Cornwall Railway Company had insufficient funds – the reduction to a single track saved £100,000. After the first contractor went bankrupt, Brunel decided to take on the contract himself.
An adapted diving bell, into which compressed air was then pumped, allowed up to 40 men to work underwater at any one time. First they had to excavate 12 ft of mud followed by 3 ft of rock before a suitable foundation was located. Work then began to build the central tower of brick. On July 4th 1853 the foundation for the first of the Cornish piers was laid by the Mayor of Saltash.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert officially opened the bridge on 2nd May 1859.
Brunel did not attend the opening due to ill health. He finally crossed his bridge on an open wagon two days later, but died later that year.
Tamar Bridge
The Tamar Bridge is a suspension bridge in the south-west of England, carrying the A38 trunk road across the River Tamar spanning between the City of Plymouth on the east bank and the town of Saltash on the west bank.
The Bridge is in public ownership, being owned and operated jointly by Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Councils. These Joint Authorities formed a special partnership in 1950 to lobby 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.
The work was completed after two years and three months at a cost of £1.5 million, with up to 300 men working on the structure. The Bridge was opened to the public on 24th October 1961, and was formally opened by the Queen Mother on 26th April 1962 in a grand ceremony involving a fly-past and two naval frigates.
Since that time the Joint Committee has continued to operate and maintain the Tamar Bridge, and between 1998 and 2001 the Bridge underwent a major rejuvenation when it was both strengthened and widened. The work was undertaken while the crossing was open to live traffic, ensuring adequate load carrying capacity for the future, and also adding an additional traffic lane and a dedicated pedestrian/cycle lane.
More recently, during 2006, the tolling function has been upgraded with a major refurbishment of the toll plaza, 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. The construction, operation, maintenance and improvement of the crossing continue to be financed from toll income.
Adapted from