WHORLTON Bridge has been closed to all over fears it could fail catastrophically, but angry villagers have blamed a lack of maintenance by council officers for its deteriorating condition.
A new survey has found parts of the grade-II listed scheduled monument cannot support its own weight.
The bridge was closed to vehicles in August last year after damage was found during an inspection, but it had been open to pedestrians and cyclists. This changed on Saturday when county officers fenced off the bridge.
An assessment by consultants Pell Frischmann found the bridge was unsafe for anyone to use. Following the report, county officers said: “The structure has fatigue issues and is potentially unbalanced and overstressed. It is considered that should the structure fail, it could fail catastrophically rather than progressively.
“The structure’s unsuitability for monitoring and an independent assessment report that deems it incapable of supporting its own deadload leave us little justification to keeping the structure open to any users.”
The officers added: “The report also states that parts of the structure are not capable of supporting dead loading – ie its own weight.”
The bridge was built in 1831 and is the UK’s oldest road suspension bridge.
Teesdale MP Dehenna Davison expressed disappointment, saying its closure has a severe impact on residents of Whorlton, Wycliffe and Thorpe.
In a letter to Durham County Council, she said: “I share your concern about public safety on the bridge and understand the need for Whorlton Bridge’s complete closure based on the increased safety risk. That’s why I am calling for immediate repairs to allow Whorlton bridge to reopen to vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians as soon as possible.”
However, a county council report shows that no work will take place until at least March 2022 as more tests need to be done before work designs are done. The works would also need scheduled monument consent.
Whorlton parish council vice chairman George Stastny said: “This is a real maintenance failure by the Durham County Council. It should have been foreseen and changed to pedestrian traffic only long time ago before the damage occurred.”
He asked if the decision was “risk adverse” , saying: “It carried just recently large tractors well over five tonnes.”
Durham County Council’s corporate director for neighbourhoods, Alan Patrickson, said: “Given the nature and the historical importance of the bridge, careful consideration is going to have to be taken as to the scope of works required.
“It will also take careful planning and consultation with appropriate specialists whilst we look to secure the future of the bridge.
“The diversion route currently in place will remain the same throughout the closure.
“In the meantime we are investigating whether construction of an alternative crossing for pedestrians is feasible although due to the topography and span early indications are that this is highly unlikely.”
