£6.7m Northumberland bridge repair scheme hits new milestone

A three-year project to repair bridges all over Northumberland hit a new milestone this week with the completion of repairs on its 100th bridge.

The £6.7m scheme involves remedial work to improve the condition of 130 masonry arch bridges across the county, predominantly in the rural areas of the north and west.

It also includes preventing further water damage and halting the escalation of more costly problems in the future.

The scheme is funded nationally, although Northumberland County Council contributed just over £1m towards the works.

Efforts began back in 2015 and with only 30 bridges left to fix, the authority said it is on track to complete the scheme by the end of the year.

Alnwick Lion Bridge, Burradon Lake Bridge and Wallington Bridge are among the structures to have undergone masonry repairs and repointing work.

Northumberland County Council Technical Services Design Manager Simon Rudman is heading up the project.

He said: “In Northumberland you are never far from a bridge. The vast, rural nature of the county means we have a higher number of very old masonry arch bridges which have an average age of 170 years.

“The funding we received for this project has enabled us to take action now to carry out repair work and resolve any issues at an early stage.”

Simon added: “Our focus has been to minimise the disruption to the travelling public as much as we can while working to complete the job as quickly as we can.”

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