Bridges over the years have been very important to Tamworth, with the Peel River flowing through the centre of our town.
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We have four traffic bridges (Peel, George Fielder, Jewry St and Paradise) and one Footbridge in fairly close proximity. Our main Peel River Bridge is the one pictured, shown on its Official Opening Day on August 14, 1965. I was there, and maybe you were too.
However, I can't see my then recently acquired Morris Elite - maybe I'd parked it around the corner. Council had decided by 1963 that the Iron Bridge in that location was no longer adequate, so by October of that year work had begun with pile driving for the new concrete replacement bridge.
Read more Stepping Back in Time:
In the meantime traffic continued to use the adjoining Iron Bridge. Decking was finally completed on April 29, 1965, leading to the Official Opening of our 6 span concrete bridge on August 14.
With a deck of 114m (25m longer than the Iron Bridge), and a width of 18.6m, with 2 footpaths each 2.6m wide, the centre of the new bridge was 1.5m above the highest level of the 1955 Flood. The total cost, including approaches and culvert, was 208 000 pounds, shared by DMR (2/3) and Tamworth City Council (1/3).
Council purchased the old Iron Bridge for 100 pounds and in January, 1970 the Iron Bridge was finally removed. A survey of daily vehicle crossings was made in 1970, averaging 27 500, possibly exceeded during our flood in late March this year, when our main bridge was the only one accessible for a time for West-East crossings.
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