Editing Tamar Bridge (section)

===1950–1962: Construction{{anchor|Tamar Bridge Act 1957}}===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Tamar Bridge Act 1957
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to empower the county council of the administrative county of Cornwall and the lord mayor aldermen and citizens of the city of Plymouth to construct a bridge across the river Tamar with approach roads and other works and to purchase lands compulsorily for those and other purposes to vest in the said county council and the said lord mayor aldermen and citizens jointly the Torpoint ferry undertaking of the said county council to discontinue the Saltash ferry and for other purposes.
| year                  = 1957
| citation              = [[5 & 6 Eliz. 2]]. c. xxviii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 31 July 1957
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = current
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Eliz2/5-6/28/pdfs/ukla_19570028_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
[[File:Tamar Bridge plaques - geograph.org.uk - 1209285.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A set of plaques commemorating the original opening of the Tamar Bridge, and its reconstruction 40 years later]] 
In 1950, [[Cornwall County Council]] and [[Plymouth City Council]] discussed the feasibility of building a road bridge. The government was unenthusiastic about the idea, as they did not believe it was financially viable and there were more urgent projects in post-war Britain. After being rebuked, both councils agreed to self-fund the entire project, which would be paid for in tolls.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=3}} The scheme received [[royal assent]] in July 1957.<ref>{{cite web |date=31 July 1957 |title=Royal Assent |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1957/jul/31/royal-assent#S5CV0574P0_19570731_HOC_305 |access-date=11 August 2016 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref> Invitations to tender were sent on 4 March 1959, and a proposal from the northeast England-based [[Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company]] was accepted on 9 June.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=3}}

Preparatory work on the bridge started in July 1959. The bridge was built using suspended construction, which involved building two {{convert|67|m|ft}} concrete towers with support cables over these. Hangers were attached to these cables and the road deck was transported by barge and lifted into place.{{sfn|Brown|2007|pp=3,4}} Cleveland Bridge and Engineering later used the same technique to construct the first [[Severn Bridge]].{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=4}}

The central span of the bridge was {{convert|1848|ft|m}}. The support cables were both {{convert|2200|ft|m}} long, with a combined weight of 850 [[long ton|tons]]. They were constructed for Cleveland Bridge and Engineering by British Ropes Ltd.<ref name=times>{{cite news|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS85025113&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title=Road Bridge over Tamar opened|work=The Times|page=5|date=25 October 1961|access-date=11 August 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The deck was made out of a concrete base covered with {{convert|20|mm|inch|adj=on}} steel plates approx and {{convert|200|mm|inch|adj=on}} of standard road [[Asphalt concrete|tarmac]].{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=6}} The roadway catered for three lanes of traffic and was designed to be {{convert|33|ft|m}} wide, with an additional {{convert|6|ft|m}} for pedestrians either side of the bridge.<ref name=times/> It could support an estimated capacity of 20,000 vehicles a day,<ref name=times/> with a maximum individual vehicle weight of 38 tons.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=6}} Bridge materials had a similar colour to the Royal Albert Bridge, which it runs parallel to.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=5}}

The bridge was unofficially opened at 6&nbsp;am on 24 October 1961, when the construction barriers were removed.<ref name=times/> It was formally opened by [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother]] on 26 April 1962.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS101540507&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title=Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother cutting the tape to open the Tamar Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall yesterday|work=The Times|date=27 April 1962|page=6|access-date=11 August 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The total cost of the bridge was £1.8 million (now £{{inflation|UK|1.8|1961}} million).<ref name=times/> It was the first major [[suspension bridge]] to be constructed in the UK after World War II, and the longest suspension bridge in Britain.{{sfn|Brown|2007|p=1}}