Laira Bridge
Spanned the River Plym at Laira, east of Plymouth.
Cast Iron Bridge
This was also called Lary Bridge at the time of construction.
1824 Construction began. It was planned by James Meadows Rendel, who was an early advocate of using cast iron instead of stone in multi-span structures. Rendel was only 25 when work began.
The bridge was 500 ft in length, composed of 5 elliptical arches[1]. Note: Chepstow Bridge, which survives in use by vehicles, also has five cast iron arch spans with cast iron towers on masonry piers, was opened in 1816.
Ironwork by William Hazledine.
1827 The bridge was opened by the Duchess of Clarence
In 1836 Rendel presented a Paper to the I.C.E. on the construction of the bridge [2]
1962 The cast iron bridge was demolished.
Although bridging the Tamar was also proposed by Rendel it was not implemented
Railway Bridge
1887 Another bridge was opened across the River Plym at Laira. The bridge carried the London and South Western Railway branch to Turnchapel over the River Plym. Later the Great Western Railway also had running powers over the bridge providing access to their Yealmpton branch at Plymstock. In 2015, the bridge was restored and converted into a cycle and pedestrian pathway.