Bridge damaged by overweight lorry reopens

A metal bridge has crossed this part of the Trent since 1947

A bridge that was damaged by a heavy lorry has reopened after a survey found it was not structurally weakened.

The Bailey Bridge, which spans the River Trent on the Derbyshire and Staffordshire border, near Walton-on-Trent, closed after the vehicle got stuck on 24 June.

Derbyshire County Council said a "thorough health check" was needed before the road could reopen safely.

The authority said its survey found the bridge was not significantly damaged and could safely reopen on Wednesday.

The current bridge was built in the 1970s, replacing a similar bridge which was constructed in 1947.

It has a single lane with traffic lights at either end and has parameters for vehicle weight and width.

The council said the lorry, which became stuck in June, was four times heavier than the bridge's limit.

The lorry that damaged the bridge was four times over the weight limit

The county council said an in-depth survey was needed because a refuse lorry and other vehicles became stuck behind the lorry and remained stationary on the bridge for some time.

In a statement, the county council said: "This load was far more than the bridge was designed for, and it is this issue that we needed to be carefully assessed before we could open the bridge again.

"Thankfully, the structural specialists have told us that the bridge is safe to use again.

"We know that the closure of the bridge has caused severe inconvenience for many local people.

"We will be taking action to recover the costs that we have had to incur on the taxpayers’ behalf following the incident that closed the bridge."

The council also said it was pressing the developer of the nearby Dracan village, which had been told to build a new bridge as a condition of planning permission.

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