26/5/2011 - Northside bridge replacement gets green light from Cabinet

County Councillors have today agreed to appoint a contractor to build a new multi-million pound crossing of the River Derwent in Workington after the old Northside Bridge was destroyed in the floods of November 2009.

The contractor will be formally appointed once the final legal and financial arrangements have been completed, but Cabinet members were assured at a meeting in Carlisle today that the county council had reached agreement on amicable terms with all nine landowners and leaseholders who currently occupy parts of the land where the new improved bridge will be routed.

Councillors have therefore delegated authority to chief officers to award the contract once everything is place so that the work programme can stay on track for the new bridge to be built by May 2012.

The new bridge has already secured planning permission and the design has been shaped and supported by local people. The three span structure will carry vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists on a similar alignment to that of the previous Northside bridge and connect into the existing road network.

It will be final piece in the jigsaw of completing the infrastructure recovery programme following the devastation of the floods. In the immediate aftermath of the floods, the county council had to complete 1,240 visual inspections of structures close to water. Three significant road bridges were lost completely and 17 others were closed because of structural damage. In addition three important footbridges – including the Navvies Bridge linking north and south Workington – also collapsed and many others were damaged.

Now the Northside replacement is set to go ahead, Navvies Bridge is being replaced this summer with a new iconic structure, Calva Bridge has been repaired, and two smaller road bridges in Little Braithwaite and Low Lorton that had been completely destroyed away have been rebuilt. The replacement for Northside will be the pinnacle of a huge engineering project for the county council that has involved incredible amounts of partnership work with central Government, partner agencies such as district councils and the Environment Agency, and contractors.

Cllr Tony Markley, Cumbria County Council’s cabinet member for highways and economic development, said: "We have had very constructive talks this week with the final party needed to secure council ownership of the land where the bridge will be built. I'm delighted that we're now in a position to press ahead with awarding the contract and we will make an announcement on who the contractor is and what the work programme will be as soon as the contract has been confirmed.

"This is a huge step forward for Workington and people can now start to get excited about the prospect of getting a new bridge for the town next year. I'd like to thank everyone involved for their mammoth efforts in restoring the infrastructure for the town of Workington and further afield in other damaged areas of the county."

ENDS

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