Teignmouth and Shaldon Bridge

Teignmouth and Shaldon Bridge joins the two towns by crossing the estuary of the River Teign via the A379. It is a substantial structure, crossing the wide estuary, but it replaces an earlier structure on the same site.

History

A Ferry connected the two villages on either side of the Teign estuary for many centuries until, in 1827, a new bridge was opened by the Shaldon Bridge Company, with the subsequent closure of the ferry. The original bridge was claimed to be the longest timber bridge in England, and the second longest in Europe. While this may not be strictly true, at 1632feet, and crossing 32 arches it was certainly a large structure. In order to allow masted ships to pass up river, there was a small swing bridge section at the Teignmouth end.

Unfortunately, in 1838 part of the structure collapsed, with the remainder found to already be rotten and infested with worm. However, over the next two years a new bridge was built of stone, and it is probably for this structure that tolls were introduced. Again, there was a lifting section at the Teignmouth end. This bridge was renovated in 1893.

The Bridge

The bridge that stands today dates back to 1931. Although the act of parliament refers to widening and strengthening, the new concrete girders and deck sit on concrete piers, suggesting that a completely new structure was built. Stretching for 324m across the muddy estuary, the lifting section at the Teignmouth end was again retained, although used only occasionally these days. A weight restriction was introduced after the war, but lifted following the recent work.

This saw the bridge widened and strengthened again, with work being completed in 2002. One-way running was maintained throughout the improvements, maintaining this crucial link between the communities of Shaldon and Teignmouth.