Six councils in Britain each have more than 100 substandard bridges that are not fit to carry the heaviest vehicles, according to a new study.

 

The RAC Foundation says that there are more than 3000 substandard council maintained bridges in the country, out of around 72,000 on the local road network.

 

The six councils with the highest number of substandard bridges are Devon (249), Somerset (210), Essex (160), Northumberland (148), Cornwall (127) and Suffolk (121). In each of these cases the number of substandard bridges represents more than 9% of a council’s total bridge stock.

 

It is pointed out by the report that many of the substandard bridges have weight restrictions and others will be under programmes of increased monitoring or managed decline.

 

The one off cost to bring all substandard bridges back to perfect condition is thought to be around £890M, but the total costs of clearing the backlog of work on all bridges is estimated at £3.9Bn. Councils are said to be spending around £447M a year maintaining their entire bridge stock.

 

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: “It’s the pothole backlog that normally hits the headlines but it is easy to forget all the other aspects of road maintenance that councils are involved in; from clearing ditches to cutting verges to maintaining bridges.

 

“In the face of growing traffic volumes and ageing infrastructure the danger is that without an adequate long term funding settlement we will see more rather than fewer bridges with weight restrictions, with the backlog bill getting bigger all the time.”

 

The survey of local highway authorities was carried out with the help of the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport’s national bridges group. 

 

Chair of the bridges group Liz Kirkham said: “We support local authority bridge managers throughout the country and were pleased to work with the RAC Foundation on an important issue that can get overlooked.

 

“The figures present a true picture of the funding backlog our members face. The problem is compounded by the skills shortage in science, technology, engineering and maths which is having a serious impact across all engineering and manufacturing sectors. A growing number of substandard and restricted bridges that are not adequately maintained affects journey times and for rural communities in particular have an economic impact, creating barriers to growth."

 

Responding to the survey, Devon County Council said: “Devon has the largest stock of local road bridges in the UK so it should be no surprise that we also have the largest number with some form of restriction. In certain situations it is quite acceptable to have a weight restriction on a bridge provided the local community can function adequately.”

 

Somerset County Council said with funding from Government continuing to fall it has to prioritise and look carefully at all areas of spending, including road maintenance. “However the figures are misleading in that the list of bridges includes historic structures and those on country roads which are already unsuitable for heavy vehicles, so there would be no point in strengthening them,” a spokesman said.

 

Essex County Council said: “We are very conscious that we have a large number of older bridges in our county, many dating back to the Victorian era or even before, which were never designed to take modern volumes, size or weight of traffic, up to 44t.

 

“This offers a stark challenge to every authority, but we are using modern technology to tackle this. Innovative bridge fixes, alongside regular inspections, structural assessments and a fully scientific prioritisation of bridge repairs or replacements will help us maximise our investment.”

 

(Photo: Alastair Lloyd)