WEST Devon school children last week saw at first hand the multi-million pound new Gem Bridge which is now spanning the Walkham Valley near Grenofen.

Four schools in the area — Tavistock, Whitchurch and Horrabridge primaries and Tavistock College — are taking part in a competition to design a picnic area at the wooded site at one end of the £2.1 million Gem Bridge. The area will use original granite blocks from Brunel's viaduct which have been salvaged from the site.

The winning design will be chosen by a panel of judges and student representatives from each of the schools will be invited to the opening ceremony of the bridge this summer.

Gem Bridge is one of the last pieces of the jigsaw that is the Drake's Trail cycle path section of Route 27 between Tavistock and Plymouth — the last piece will be the tunnel.

Engineer Ben Naylor and the contractors have been on site since March last year and the project has pretty much gone to plan — despite the challenges.

Ben said it had been a 'unique' project to work on — but interesting and very rewarding.

He said: 'The access is appalling here, in a steep-sided narrow valley. Planning requirements meant everything had to be fenced off so the contractors had to work within that fence, and there is some very big stuff to be craned in and out.'

At the moment, the site is very, very muddy — but high above the mud on Gem Bridge itself, the concrete sections making up the base have been craned in and fixed remarkably quickly — up to eight a day were lifted in, their steel skeletons knitting one to another.

The views up and down the valley from the highest part of the span are stunning — to the south, the spires of the church at Walkhampton and the top rocks of Sharpitor are visible.

All the really major work on the new Gem Bridge is just about complete now — and there are hopes the public will finally be able set foot on it for themselves by the end of April.

For more information on this section of Route 27, go to http://www.devon.gov.uk/drakestrail">www.devon.gov.uk/drakestrail