Barnstaple former railway bridge repairs delayed

Repairs to a former railway bridge are taking longer than expected a council says.

Rock Park Bridge, which links Rock Park and Seven Brethren in Barnstaple, Devon, has been closed for safety reasons since May 2020.

Devon County Council said "divers discovered that the bridge's below-riverbed foundations were inadequate to support the structure".

As a result, its reopening has been delayed.

The council said it was expecting an estimate on when the works would be completed "over the next week or so".

A large jack-up barge is being used to support the bridge while specialist divers strengthen the bridge's two iron support columns by attaching large steel "sleeves" that will contain a reinforced concrete ring.

However, divers discovered that the poor condition of the wrought iron columns extended well down below riverbed level, which meant that the bottom of the steel repair sleeves had nothing to fix into.

To resolve the issue, engineers have had to significantly modify the design of the repair to include a reinforced concrete pad foundation.

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