Wagbeach Footbridge work overnight on 29 May 2014

The A488 road in Wagbeach will be closed overnight on Thursday 29 May 2014 to enable a new footbridge to be craned into position.

This work was originally planned for Tuesday 27 May 2014, but due to unforeseen circumstances the contractor has been delayed by two days.  When in place, the footbridge will carry a right of way over the brook which flows alongside the A488 road.

The installation of the new footbridge is a follow-up to work which was carried out in 2013 to strengthen the edge of the A488 following severe flood damage.  This strengthening work involved locally realigning the brook away from the road, and then building a new stone boulder embankment between it and the road.

Although building the stone boulder embankment solution was both cost effective and deliverable without having to close the adjacent A488 road to traffic, it does mean that the footbridge which used to cross the river at this location is no longer long enough; hence the need for a new bridge at this location.

The new footbridge will be built elsewhere before being transported to site late on Thursday 29 May 2014 and craned into position.

Unfortunately, because of the narrow nature of the road at this location, it is necessary to temporarily close it to both traffic and pedestrians to enable the bridge to be lifted into position safely.  Therefore, it is proposed to close the road from 9pm on Thursday 29 May 2014 until up to 7am on Friday 30 May 2014.

When the road is closed, it is proposed to divert traffic via Brockton, Chirbury, Church Stoke and Lydham.

Because it will be unsafe to crane the bridge into place if it is very windy, it is possible that the weather will cause the bridge lift to be postponed for a day or two at short notice.  In case this happens, the council has also arranged for provisional overnight road closures for the 30 May and 31 May 2014 as a contingency measure.

The contractor carrying out the work will be Beaver Bridges Ltd of Leebotwood.

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

‘‘It is appreciated that closing the A488 road will cause inconvenience, and it is to minimise this that the bridge lift has been programmed to be carried out overnight.’’