Repairs to Church Window Bridge near Gretton extended by a week

Church Window Bridge, which carries the Longville in the Dale to Gretton road over a watercourse approximately half a mile east of Gretton, has been closed for essential repairs since Monday 18 August 2014.

The ongoing repairs are taking slightly longer than first envisaged, so the road will remain closed a week more than originally thought, and now reopen on Friday 17 October 2014.

The work is necessary because a routine inspection has revealed that the condition of bridge’s northern end has recently deteriorated significantly.  The defects found include fresh cracking in the bridge’s arch barrel and heavy bulging of the adjacent spandrel and wing walls.

The repair involved taking down and rebuilding the damaged parts.

Unfortunately, because of the relatively narrow nature of the bridge, it was necessary to close it to traffic in order to carry out the proposed work safely.

Whilst the bridge is closed, traffic is being diverted along Gilberries Lane and the B4371 road.

Access over the bridge for pedestrians and dismounted cyclists is unfortunately not available throughout the proposed work.

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

‘‘This is essential work which needs to be carried out to ensure that the bridge can continue to remain open safely in the long term.

‘‘Whilst it is appreciated the road closure is causing inconvenience, please be assured that everyone involved in the repair will do all that they reasonably can to reopen the road as soon as possible.”