Work is getting underway on a new bridge which will link Penrhyndeudraeth and Talsarnau in Gwynedd, Wales, the Daily Post has said.

The £19.5 project will see the old Pont Briwet bridge replaced with a new structure.

It is funded with over £9m from the European Regional Development Fund.

Talking about the build, Gwynedd Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Gareth Roberts, said: "While the old Pont Briwet has served the area well for almost 150 years, the bridge has seen better days and is no longer suitable for modern transport requirements.

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"The fact is that when the structure was built, it was not intended to transport the volume of traffic it now carries every day."

Mr Roberts added that the new bridge, once opened, would provide a "vital link for the economic and social prosperity of the area."

The new structure will retain the single-track railway, but it will also include a new two-lane public highway and cycle route, rather than the current one-lane route.

Specialist engineers HOCHTIEF (UK) Construction have been appointed as main contractors, and work with Gwynedd-based Mulcair.

The old wooden bridge, which spans Afon Dwyryd, dates back to the 1860s.

(JP)