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Road bridge, still in use, and site of earlier bridges. The Old Bridge was an iron suspension bridge by Alexander Stevenson and Son which replaced an earlier wooden structure. It was begun in 1794 and finished 1796. The John Wood map of 1822 shows a Toll on the west side of the south end of the bridge. This celebrated suspension bridge was demolished circa 1927 when the New Bridge, an unusual reinforced-concrete cantilever bridge, with a central 216 ft (65.8 m) span and a 108 ft (32.9 m) approach span on each side, was built. The New Bridge was by Sir E Owen Williams and opened in 1930. Elements of the earlier bridge appeared to have been incorporated into the masonry of the south abutment of the bridge. In 2003, internal decay within the concrete was continuing to cause problems, and the bridge was removed in 2004 and a replacement under construction in 2005. Proposal to replace chain suspension bridge in 1921 with a 'bold new design' incorporating water turbines to harness tidal wave power and using a concrete-encased sunken WWI battleship as the central support for the bridge. It was calculated that 20 million tons of water passed through the estuary with each tide, so the power generated would have exceeded that of the Montrose Power Station. However, the proposal was rejected by the Joint Bridge Committee who were 'fearful of the revolutionary nature of the scheme'.
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