A revised timetable for the construction of a replacement bridge across the River Eamont has been announced this week.
Officers from Cumbria County Council’s Flood Recovery team attended a public meeting at Pooley Bridge on Wednesday night to give an update on the project to provide a replacement bridge.
The meeting, which was attended by more than 40 local residents and stakeholders, heard that the revised delivery timetable takes into account the community’s concerns about the potential impact on the local economy if no bridge was in place during the peak summer season.
Although there are a number of issues still to resolve, specifically around landownership as well as working within the river watercourse, the current temporary road bridge will not now be removed until October 2019 – and not until after a temporary footbridge has been provided, to maintain connectivity.
Reopening of the road bridge is provisionally planned for Easter 2020, although that date is still to be confirmed.
The project team is currently completing the outline design and will soon start the detailed design stage. This will provide greater confidence on the final programme for the start of the enabling works and delivery of the permanent bridge.
The following target dates for the project delivery that the county council is striving to achieve are as follows:
- January/February 2019 – Complete detailed design
- June/July 2019 – Start preparatory work around bridge (Temporary road bridge remains open)
- September 2019 – Open temporary foot bridge
- September/October 2019 – Remove temporary road bridge
- October 2019 to April 2020 – Construct permanent road bridge
- By Easter 2020 – Open permanent road bridge and demobilise completely by May 2020.
Cllr Keith Little, Cumbria County Council Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said: “The replacement bridge project is a key part of our Flood Recovery Programme and involves a number of complex issues that our design team have been working hard to resolve. We believe the revised target date for reopening the bridge is a realistic timetable and also takes account of local feedback about keeping the temporary road bridge in place until after next summer’s peak season.”
