Minister Opens New South Wales Bridge
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THE largest river bridge built in Britain since the war, on the £2m. by-pass at Neath, South Wales, was formally opened to traffic on Monday by the Minister of Transport. The bridge carries the by-pass road over the River Neath between Briton Ferry and Tarlswood.
There are dual carriageways, each 22 ft. wide, two 9-ft-wide cycle tracks and two 6-ft. footpaths. The total width between the steel-panelled parapets is 90 ft.
Traffic to Swansea until now, has made a I2-mile detour through Neath. The new high-level road shortens the journey by six miles. Later it will be extended to Lon-Las, as 'part of the
London-Cardiff-Fistiguard trunk road.
Commenting on the opening of the bridge, the Britieh Road Federation said: "Whilst commending all concerned, in finishing off this job, the Federation cannot but point to this shining example of how long a construction scheme can last when the right spirit is missing. On December 29, 1948, Ministry of Transport Press Release 19448 announced that the whole scheme was expected to take about 21 years. It has taken seven, and the approaches into Swansea -still need cleaning up. The history of this scheme must never be repeated in other parts of the country."
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