Essex has second most 'substandard' road bridges in UK

Some 3,105 council-owned bridges in Britain were substandard as of October 2020, according to data obtained by motoring research charity RAC Foundation.

This is 50 more than during the previous year.

Out of the 3,105, 165 were in Essex, meaning the county has the second highest total in the country behind only Devon, which has 233.

Many of these bridges are subject to weight restrictions, while others are under programmes of increased monitoring or even managed decline.

Lexden Bridge

• Lexden Bridge in Colchester

Some are substandard because they were built to earlier design standards, while others have deteriorated through age and use.

Many have been affected by flooding and hit by debris carried along by rivers this month.

Between them, local authorities say they would ideally want to bring 2,256 bridges back to full carrying capacity.

But budget constraints mean they anticipate that only 392 will have the necessary work carried out on them within the next five years.

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The analysis was based on data provided by 199 councils in response to freedom of information requests and was carried out in partnership with Adept, a group representing local authority bosses responsible for transport and other sectors.

03/07/2015.Cllr Bill Frame with some steel barriers put in place at East Hill bridge.

• A bridge over East Hill in Colchester

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: “We might not yet be at the stage where London Bridge has fallen down, as described in the nursery rhyme, but several other bridges across the country have suffered partial or total collapses.

“At the same time there has been a worrying decline in the number of inspections carried out to examine just how much damage rivers, and the debris they carry, are doing to bridges below the waterline.

“This is storing up trouble for the future as our weather gets more extreme and traffic volumes rise again after the Covid-19 restrictions.”

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “We are providing over £1.1 billion in funding to local authorities in England, outside London, for highways maintenance this year to ensure infrastructure – including bridges – are maintained effectively.”