Llanyblodwel Bridge to close for work
Llanyblodwel Bridge, which crosses the River Tanat, will be closed to traffic on two occasions during September 2011 to carry out a combination of improvement and maintenance work.
The principal element of the proposed work will involve widening the road locally at the northern end of the bridge to make access onto it easier and will hopefully result in the bridge being hit less frequently by vehicles than it has of late. This element of the work will also include modifying the northern end of the bridge’s eastern parapet and moving existing BT services to suit.
In addition to the road work, work will also be carried out in the river to provide additional scour protection to the concrete/stone invert which was built last year. This work is necessary because, in places, the river has already started to undercut the existing invert.
To carry out the proposed work safely, it will be necessary to close the bridge to traffic on two occasions.
The first closure is due to start on 5 September 2011 and is expected to last for up to 12 days. It is required to enable BT to move their services, a process that will include building a new 1.5 metre deep chamber in the road.
The second closure is required to carry out kerbing and road surfacing type work. This will start on 26 September and is expected to last for up to five days.
When the bridge is closed, traffic will be diverted along other local routes. Because of the narrow nature of these roads, different routes will be signed for northbound and southbound traffic.
Access over the bridge for pedestrians and dismounted cyclists will remain available throughout the proposed work.
Councillor Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for transport, said:
“It is appreciated that the closure of the bridge will cause some inconvenience and, on both occasions, every reasonable effort will be made to re-open it as soon as possible. The proposed work has been delayed for as long as possible to avoid impacting on tourism related trade”.
