'Final step' to stop heavy vehicles using bridge

Concrete blocks will be placed at either side of the bridge to reinforce the weight limit

Concrete blocks will be installed on a Grade II listed bridge in Devon to stop drivers of overweight vehicles mounting the curb to bypass the size and weight restrictions.

Devon County Council said the new measures were the "final step" before it would have to close Exeter's Iron Bridge.

It comes after highways officers monitoring the bridge for four hours spotted 20 vehicles which they thought exceeded the three-tonne weight limit.

The council said drivers were mounting the curb to work around the 6ft (1.8m) width limit.

'Squeeze between bollards'

Councillor Stuart Hughes, cabinet member with responsibility for highway maintenance, said: “Over a period of four hours, our officers saw in excess of 20 drivers of large vans and pick-up trucks mounting the curb in order to squeeze between the bollards.

“It’s difficult to know their precise weight without knowing what they were carrying, but by the size of the vehicles, they were thought to be well over three tonnes in weight."

He said structural engineers "routinely" assessed the strength of the bridge, which straddles Longbrook Valley, and safety could not be guaranteed for those vehicles in excess of the weight limit.

He said: “We want to keep the bridge open to traffic, but we must enforce the weight restriction.  

"This is effectively the final step we can take before having to close the bridge to all vehicles.”

Traffic is restricted to travelling in one direction over the bridge in the direction of St David’s hill, and the width of the road is restricted to 6ft (1.8m).

But bollards on the raised curbs on either side are 8.2ft (2.5m) apart, and larger vehicles were seen during the monitoring exercise, mounting the curbs to squeeze between them.

Two large concrete blocks are being placed alongside the bollards as a "temporary measure" to prevent vehicles mounting the curb.

The council added it was "considering other longer term solutions in keeping with the history and conservation of the bridge".