Bath's Cleveland Bridge repairs delayed due to Covid case

An 18-tonne limit was put in place to prevent heavy lorries using it but is being breached

Urgent repairs to a crumbling city centre bridge are "increasingly unlikely" to start this month after a worker tested positive for Covid.

Bath and North East Somerset Council added it was not yet clear how many other people working on the £3.8m project would have to self-isolate. 

Cleveland Bridge was due to close to traffic on 28 June.

A temporary 18-tonne limit was introduced ahead of the repairs but continues to be breached.

It will remain open to pedestrians, cyclists and emergency vehicles throughout the works, the Local Democracy Reporting Service added.

The repairs had already been pushed back after further inspections of the bridge structure was needed.

Councillor Mandy Rigby told a meeting on Wednesday that 28 June was "looking increasingly unlikely, because we aren't through the pandemic yet". 

"One of the workers has tested positive for Covid and was in contact with quite a lot of the other workers on the bridge. 

"In terms of health and safety, we have to work with the contractors to see how many people are going to have to self-isolate and what impact it will have on our plans to close the bridge on June 28."

Weight limit bid

She added she could not give a definitive answer of when work would start.

The authority has tried to set a permanent weight limit but faced opposition from Wiltshire and was shot down by central government because the bridge forms part of the strategic road network and carries 17,000 vehicles a day.

The government is currently trying to find the best north-south route.

It will lead the discussions through the Western Gateway, a group of eight councils including the West of England Combined Authority (WECA). 

Bath MP Wera Hobhouse said: "The government position is we need to find agreement with Wiltshire.

"I really want to work constructively to find a solution rather than having a standoff which isn't good for anybody." 

"It's in nobody's interest that the bridge falls into the river."