Thousands of council bridges at risk of collapse

Almost 3,500 council-maintained road bridges have a greater risk of collapse, new figures have revealed.

The analysis by the RAC Foundation found 3,441 structures over 1.5m in span are ‘substandard’ - including having weight restrictions in place, bridges that are being monitored or even managed decline.

Redbridge Council had the highest proportion of substandard bridges, will all its structures being substandard.

Due to budget restrictions, councils only expect 370 of the bridges to be improved in the next five years. The one-off cost of bringing the bridges back to perfect condition would be roughly £93 million.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “‘It is unwelcome, if unsurprising, news that the number of substandard local authority bridges appears to have risen slightly.

“The really worrying thing about this data is that the costs and affordability of fixing the problems are moving in opposite directions – while the estimated cost of clearing the bridge maintenance backlog has risen by 30 per cent, an increase of a billion pounds, the amount councils are spending to maintain the total bridge stock has fallen by 18 per cent year-on-year, from £447 million to £367 million.”

Graham Cole, deputy chairman of ADEPT, who helped carry out the survey, said: “The increase in the headline number of reported substandard bridges is probably due to the use of more accurate data.

“Councils continue to effectively manage their bridges, including substandard bridges, in accordance with national guidelines to maintain the safety of the public.”