13/9/2005 - Scheme to reinstate Warwick Bridge to Wetheral Road

Work will start soon on repairing the flood-damaged B6263 Warwick Bridge to Wetheral Road.

The road was virtually washed away in a landslip during the severe flooding of January this year and has been closed because of the danger of another sudden slip.

The B6263 runs alongside the River Eden for almost half a mile and the area between road and river is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The environmental sensitivity of the area meant that work, such as exploratory borehole drilling needed to investigate a long-term solution, could only be carried out between June and September. 

Engineers from Cumbria Highways have now come up with a solution which avoids conflict with the SSSI so work to reinstate the carriageway can be carried out through autumn and into winter.

The scheme involves working away from the riverbank and driving steel sheet piles through the ground into bed rock. The sheet piles will be located at the top of the banking next to the road surface. Once the piles are in place they will be supported by ground anchors inserted through the piles under the highway and driven through into an adjacent field. 

The works have been designed to minimise impact on the river and bank and English Nature and the Environment Agency have approved the scheme.

A start date has yet to be confirmed, but the plan is to have the work substantially completed and the road reopened by Christmas.

Jack Richardson, cabinet spokesman for transport and infrastructure, said: "The environmental sensitivity of this site has made this a tricky issue to resolve after the landslip all but washed parts of the road away. But we have come up with a solution which should satisfy environmental concerns and still see the road re-opened by Christmas."

Cumbria County Council engineers will on-hand to discuss he scheme at Wetheral and Stanwix Neighbourhood Forum at Scotby Village Hall on Thursday, September 22, at 7.30pm.