Work on broken bridge in West Sussex to start as soon as possible
Repairs to a bridge in West Sussex are set to start next week a county councillor has confirmed.
The A286 in Midhurst was temporarily closed over the bridge at River Rother after it was hit by a motorist over the weekend and a county councillor says repair works will start next week.
Updating his constituents over Facebook, Tom Richardson, the County Councillor for Rother Valley, said the first stage of the work will involve recovering the stone that has fallen over the side of the bridge and erecting scaffolding.
Currently, thanks to the installation of temporary traffic lights, only one lane over the bridge is open and motorists have been urged to seek alternative routes where possible.
After the stone is recovered and scaffolding erected, contractors will have to repair the bridge itself with a specific kind of stone which could take up to eight weeks to be delivered and then up to four weeks to be installed. An agreement with Historic England means the County Council has to use an approved mason and like for like materials while they proceed with the work, according to Cllr Richardson.
"This is ‘worst case scenario’ and WSCC Highways will do everything they can to expedite this,” he added.
“Highways have agreed to have the temporary lights on the bridge under manual control during peak times to reduce any delays as much as possible. They will continue to monitor impact on local back lanes and may introduce further restrictions if necessary, however it is hoped with the lights under manual control, this shouldn’t be necessary.”
Following Sunday’s crash a motorist – Daniel Collins, 44, of Rumbolds Hill, Midhurst – has been arrested and charged with driving a vehicle while over the alcohol limit. He has since been bailed, to appear at Worthing Magistrates Court on February 18.