Cumbria haulers welcome temporary bridge

A temporary bridge that will enable HGV / LGV to cross the River Derwent in Workington has been welcomed by haulage bosses in Cumbria. This bridge will enable HGV / LGV vehicles to cross the river for the first time since the severe floods last year.

Recently, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced a new structure at a cost of £4.6m and sited 200m east of the Northside Bridge that was destroyed by the flood water. This bridge will be open for the traffic in May 2010.

Calva Bridge that is nearby was also badly damaged due to the floods and has also remained closed. Director at Tyson H Burridge based between Whitehaven and Workington, Andrew Burridge said that detours have presently turned the regular 5 mile journey to a close by mill into a 20-mile trip.

Andrew also said that the new bridge is desperately required. However, they actually need it earlier than May. Director of EW and PA Nicholson in Cockermouth, Eric Nicholson said that the damage caused by floods has caused many issues in terms of extra mileage covered and delays caused.

Cumbria Country Council is presently working on plans to permanently replace the two road bridges Workington in the next 2 years. The Freight Transport Association’s head of policy for North England, Malcolm Bingham said that organisation hopes to see speedy progress on this issue.