Closed road bridges could be knocked down

Brigsteer and Underbarrow road bridges were closed in June over safety concerns

Two bridges which were closed last month over safety fears could be knocked down under plans to get traffic moving again.

Brigsteer and Underbarrow road bridges, which run over the A591 near Kendal in the Lake District, were shut to traffic after inspections found them to be an "immediate risk".

Westmorland and Furness Council said it was considering a number of options to reopen the bridges, including temporarily propping them up or replacing them entirely.

It added it was considering building a roundabout as a long-term solution.

Both structures were built in the 1970s and are classed as half-joint bridges, which means their central section rests on L-shaped joints.

These joints are difficult to inspect and Westmorland and Furness Council said there was "worldwide concern" about the issue.

The council said the De la Concorde overpass in Canada was built using the half-joint method. The bridge collapsed in 2006, killing five people.

'Extreme' consequences

An inspection of the Brigsteer and Underbarrow bridges was carried out by structural engineering firm Jacobs.

The company found the bridges had been subjected to "significantly more load" than its assessments would allow for more than 50 years.

It added the consequences of them collapsing would be "extreme" as they ran over a dual carriageway.

The council is set to appoint a specialist to carry out a feasibility study for the best short-term solutions to restore the link across the A591.

It has closed the roads for 18 months, which is the standard period a Traffic Regulation Order is put in place.

However, Westmorland and Furness Council said the length of the road closures had not been determined.