An essential repair scheme is to be carried out to strengthen the historic road bridge at Stamford Bridge, near York, following years of damage.
The 80m-long village bridge, built in 1727 – making it almost 300 years old – has been struck in traffic accidents over the past few years, causing severe damage to its parapets.
Now East Riding of Yorkshire Council is to invest £350,000 to repair and improve road safety on the Grade II listed structure, with work beginning in mid-May this year.
As part of the project, the single-lane bridge controlled by traffic lights – which carries the A166 over the River Derwent – will need to be unavoidably closed to traffic for between eight to 10 weeks to allow the work to be carried out.
A temporary, signed diversion will be put in place for traffic travelling along the popular Driffield to York route for the duration of the project.
The neighbouring footbridge will stay open during the work.
As part of the repair scheme, rows of stone bricks on parapets on both sides of the bridge will be replaced by similar local stone, sourced from Whitby, and the walls will be strengthened.
Warning bollards will also be installed on approach to the bridge to indicate its width with the aim of preventing further strikes.
The scheme will be carried out on behalf of the council by contractor Esh Construction and will involve working longer hours and some weekends in order to keep the bridge closure to a minimum.
Councillor Paul West, the council’s cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “The bridge badly needs repairing as it’s fallen victim to a number of road accidents in recent years. There’s missing stonework where it’s been hit and we’ve had to install temporary barriers.
“Unfortunately a road closure is unavoidable in order for us to carry out this scheme, but the work we intend to do will strengthen the bridge for years to come and hopefully prevent further damage from happening.
“We have consulted on this scheme with local parish and ward councillors and we will continue to work with them as well as local businesses and bus companies, as we know this will cause disruption for the village.”
The official signed diversion will be in place for all traffic, especially for larger vehicles, although quicker local routes will be available.
Traffic management including traffic lights and speed restrictions will be placed on smaller local roads not part of the official diversion but are likely to be used during the closure.
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