Downton Tannery Bridge was a huge project which took up a lot of time. Over the years the road surface had cracked, which let salt from the snowy weather seep into the iron bars of the structure. Hence undermining the structure of the bridge. The original eleven pillars holding the bridge were replaced with five modern pillars. As this was a large curved bridge, with buildings on one side this was no easy or quick task. A single lane bridge was built over the old bridge to keep traffic moving. Old wooden pillars were found in the foundations dating back to the 13th century.
During the last war the bridge was reinforced to carry tanks.
The project took over a year to complete, and created a major disruption,sometimes closing the main road in the village. However, now it is completed it is upgraded to EEC standard,but a load restriction in Downton is now 7.5 tons.
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