Colchester Middle Mill bridge closed following weir collapse

A large section of a weir in Colchester’s Castle Park collapsed into the river Colne yesterday morning.

Colchester City Council closed the footbridge and a section surrounding the weir as a safety precaution.

Now, a diversion route has been put in place taking walkers, cyclists and other residents around the site.

The bridge has been closed (Image: Newsquest)

The route takes residents along the river up towards North Station Road, before directing them back along the river to where the bridge ends.

There is also a step-free route, which goes along  to Causton Road and back towards the other side of the now-closed bridge.

The bridge is typically a busy pedestrian route across Kings Meadow into the city centre or Lower Castle Park.

The diversion route put in place (Image: Newsquest)

A spokesman for Colchester Council told the Gazette signage has been put in place to stop access as well as notifying Essex Highways and the Environment Agency.

They continued: “We contacted the Environment Agency earlier this week due to a significant drop in water levels, who advised that there was no risk to wildlife or of flooding caused by potential damage to this structure.

“We are now working with them to understand any further impacts following the collapse.

“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and take appropriate action to ensure the safety of visitors, as well as taking any action we can on advice of the Environment Agency to mitigate risk of flooding or to wildlife.”

Essex Highways has also visited the site since to implement the footway closure.

A spokesman said: “Essex Highways visited Middle Mill in Colchester this morning, Monday, to inspect the footbridge following the deterioration of the weir, which is owned by Colchester Council.

"In the interests of safety, a closure has been implemented to stop the public using the footway at this location. 

“Whilst Essex Highways is not responsible for the weir itself, we are liaising with Colchester City Council regarding the situation and will continue to monitor the condition of the footbridge.”

A section of the weir in Castle Park collapsed yesterday morning (Image: Nicola Dines)

Colchester High Steward Sir Bob Russell said repairs had been made to the weir just last year.

“Major repairs were undertaken here in 2000 and last year part of the same wall was repaired after water penetrated the wall and washed away the soil, resulting in a hole appearing in the path on the section of pavement on the ‘solid’ part of the structure.

“It is the same wall which has collapsed, causing half the weir to collapse.

“There is now no way the river level can be maintained up river of Middle Mill.

“Last year’s repair took several weeks - my guess is that this time the repair will take several months.”