Essential repairs to be carried out to Prescott Bridge

Essential repairs to Prescott Bridge, which carries the Prescott to Farlow road over the River Rea near Prescott Mill, are scheduled to start on 24 July 2013.

The proposed work will involve taking down and rebuilding the bridge’s north-western riverside training wall which is currently bulging heavily and installing stainless steel reinforcement to repair cracking in the bridge’s arch barrel.

Unfortunately, because of the narrow nature of the bridge, it will not be possible to carry out the proposed work safely without closing it to traffic starting on 24 July 2013.  At present it is too early for us to be able to accurately predict how long the bridge will need to remain closed for; however, it is provisionally estimated that it will be for about six to eight weeks.

When the bridge is closed it is proposed to divert traffic via Bagginswood, Upper Harcourt, Stottesdon, Hardwickforge and Well Farm.

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

John Williams, Shropshire Council’s bridges and structures manager, said:

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

‘‘Whilst it is appreciated that the road closure will cause some disruption, please be assured that everyone involved will do all that they reasonably can to reopen the road as soon as possible.  Because the bridge lies on a school bus route, the start of the closure period has been chosen to coincide with the start of the school summer holiday period.”