Faulty M62 bridge joints 'a surprise for everybody'

Work on the bridge started in March 2022 after eight damaged joints were found

A National Highways manager has said newly fitted joints on a bridge that turned out to be faulty came as "a surprise for everybody".

Drivers have faced more than two years of delays since repairs to the M62 Ouse Bridge, near Goole, started in March 2022.

Eight damaged joints that formed part of the repairs now need to be replaced as a "precautionary measure".

Phil Jepps, programme delivery manager at National Highways, said it was "difficult to say" when the bridge would be fixed and finally free from repairs.

Phil Jepps, of National Highways, said the taxpayer would not be footing ther bill for the additional work

Mr Jepps told BBC Look North: "It's not what [I] or anyone else expected.

"The joints were completed in October and in the early hours of the Monday morning a member of the public reported that part of the joint plate had been detached."

Mr Jepps said the manufacturer and installer of the joints had visited the site and said it was "something that they've never seen before".

"It is quite a surprise for everybody that this has actually happened," he added.

Inspectors found that a newly fitted joint on the bridge had failed

Mr Jepps said the issue was being investigated thoroughly and that National Highways was working closely with the principal contractor.

Mr Jepps confirmed that National Highways and the taxpayer "won't be footing the bill".

The motorway remains open with three lanes but further lane closures will be put in place to ensure all the other joints are fine, he said.

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