Horse Bridge near Minsterley – road closure now planned on 7 July

Horse Bridge near Minsterley, which carries the B4387 over the Rea Brook, is now to be closed to enable a rescheduled bridge inspection to be carried out on Wednesday 7  July 2021. This is following specialist access equipment required to undertake the inspection encountering a mechanical failure on the way to site on Wednesday 16 June, the original announced date.

The closure, between 9.30am and 4pm, requires access equipment to be positioned on the carriageway. Due to the narrow nature of the bridge, this cannot be done without closing the bridge to traffic. When the road is closed, traffic will be diverted along  B4499, B4386 and the B4387 by a signed diversion.

Access over the bridge for pedestrians and dismounted cyclists will remain available throughout the inspection.

The road closure with be undertaken by the council’s term maintenance contractor Kier, and the inspection by the council’s term consultant WSP.

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for physical infrastructure, highways and built housing, said:-

“It is appreciated that this bridge closure will cause some inconvenience, and everyone involved will do all that they reasonably can to reopen it as soon as possible on the day.”