Work starts on £19.5m bridge replacement

Councillor Ozzie O'Shea led a turf-cutting ceremony to mark the start of the work

Preliminary work has started on a long-awaited project to replace a 90-year-old bridge on the border of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

Leicestershire County Council said the bridge over the River Soar, at Zouch, was "deteriorating" and a new structure was needed.

The existing 80m (262ft) bridge, which takes the A6006 over the water, will remain open while its replacement is built next to it.

The road will then be re-aligned to allow the new route to open, the council said.

The existing bridge will be demolished in 2027

The authority decided to build a new bridge in 2013 but said the project had been delayed because a bid for £18m Levelling Up cash was unsuccessful.

The council has set aside £19.5m for the project, with £7.5m coming from the Leicester and Leicestershire Business Rates Pool - a shared pot to finance major schemes locally.

Contractors Eric Wright Civil Engineering have been appointed to build the bridge.

A turf-cutting ceremony marked the start of the work on site on Monday.

Engineers said the initial phase of work involved the building of coffer dams on both sides of the Soar to create watertight areas to install the bridge piers.

The council said work would then be temporarily suspended from the autumn until the following spring because of likely flooding and to follow Environment Agency rules on protecting nature.

Road closures will be limited to the time periods when main bridge beams are delivered to be lowered into place, the authority added.

'Vital function'

Bridge components will be assembled on the land next to to the river and, due to the presence of overhead, high-voltage cables ruling out the use of cranes, will then be guided into place using a jacking system, the council said.

The old bridge will then be demolished, with work currently scheduled to be completed by early 2027.

Ozzy O’Shea, county council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The A6006 is a key east/west route across the county which provides a vital function, not least for business links to East Midlands Airport and Freeport developments.

“We’ve spent thousands of pounds on reactive repairs over the years and that’s not sustainable given the condition of the bridge."

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