28/08/2013 - Permalink

Highley to Alveley Footbridge to be closed for repairs

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The Highley to Alveley Footbridge, near Bridgnorth, is to be closed from 9.30am until 4pm on Mondays to Fridays for up to three weeks starting on 16 September 2013.

The closures are required to enable the contractor which built the bridge, which crosses the River Severn between Highley and Alveley, in 2005/6 to carry out repairs to it at its own cost.

The repairs will largely involve sealing non-structural cracks which appeared in the underside of the bridge when it was being built.  Since then, these cracks have been monitored to ensure they are dormant and are now being sealed to ensure they do not affect the bridge’s long term durability.

To gain access to the cracks, the contractor will have to use a specialist access vehicle which will be parked on the bridge.  Unfortunately, because the bridge is not much wider than the vehicle, this cannot be done safely without closing the bridge when the work is in progress.

Because there are no other local bridges crossing the River Severn, it is not possible to offer an alternative route for use when the bridge is closed.

Councillor Claire Wild, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for bridge maintenance, said:

“It is appreciated that the bridge closure will cause some inconvenience and everyone involved will do all that they reasonably can to keep the closure periods to a minimum.”