We are grateful to Neil Read, Chairman of Gressingham Parish Council, for this report on his questions to Lancashire County Council:

Here is the (edited) response to some points I put recently (11th February) to the Principal Engineer, Bridges Design and Construction, Lancashire County Council:

Question. What is preventing you starting work immediately?

Answer. We need to obtain consent from the Environment Agency, who will scrutinise our proposals and issue consent in due course. We have had a meeting with them and they have responded positively to our proposals. I anticipate we will have the consent before the 24 February 2016.

We also need to obtain consent from Historic England as the structure is a Scheduled Monument. We have met with them on site and they have no objections in principle and we expect their consent in due course.

Generally the weather is still not favourable, and we would be remiss in our duties if we removed the stone protection that is currently in place when the risk of further damage being caused, within the window of repair, is significant. I appreciate that the river levels vary significantly all through the year and that we could have the same problem 24 February 2016. I cannot however authorise works to commence without the legally required consents which I am sure will be dealt with expediently. The issue is perhaps also whether we the people of Lancashire are prepared to take the risk of carrying out works and having to abandon as a result of another storm (i.e. further delay and cost) or worse still see the collapse of the structure.

In 2010-11 works to protect the stone apron around the west pier had to be abandoned due to the installed protection being washed away. Eventually we managed to complete the works in 2012. In 2015, due to the continued erosion of the banks leading up to the bridge, we protected the structure with soft landscaping works to the west bank. We currently have a consent from the Environment Agency in place for carrying out specific soft landscaping works to the east side as well. However the works rely on land owners consent and the seasonally appropriate timing of planting willow and thus have yet to be carried out. Hopefully we will be able to do this as part of the package of works now required.

Question. There is growing frustration that there appears to be no work ongoing towards solving this problem. This is understandable, as it is a 30-mile round trip between Gressingham and Hornby!

Answer. Due to the load path of traversing vehicles affecting the damaged area, and the vibration caused by vehicles as they cross, the bridge necessarily stays closed until a structural repair has been implemented. I do understand the frustrations of the locals and can assure you that we are wanting to progress with works as soon as possible so that the bridge can be re-opened.

Additionally, a press release gives this information:

Indicative dates for repairs 24 February to 20 May.   Hope to get on site later this month, weather permitting, and work will take around 12 weeks.

In addition to the obvious damage to the bridge piers, there is also some damage around the foundations of the bridge underwater, where the water has scoured holes which need to be filled with stone.

Reconstruction of the piers and repairs to foundations repaired will take 3-4 weeks, and we’ll be able to reopen the bridge once this is done. Further work to protect the bridge will follow on immediately and take another 8 weeks or so. This involves removing a build-up of 30-40mm gravel which is banked up before the bridge and which over time will erode the river bank and bridge foundations if not removed. There will also be work to protect the bank from erosion (work to protect the bank on one side was carried out last year and we now have EA permission to protect the other bank).

Neil Read
Gressingham Parish Council

Update received on 14th January from the LCC Area Highways Manager:

“We have started work to the bridge wing walls and to the collapsed carriageway at the Hornby side, and do not envisage any further problems with these issues.

With are extremely concerned about the structure of the bridge, and are relieved that there have not been repeats of the storms which could have resulted in the loss of this structure (which is Grade II* Listed and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument).

Both piers have been badly damaged by the flooding events and by debris in the river, and we are concerned at the displacement and loss of stonework. The bridge appears stable at the moment, and we have taken immediate measures to safeguard it by installing filter-bag protection. (Pic) These are placed immediately around the cutwaters to provide in-fill to the void, offer support to the structure and deflect the power of the water / debris in any subsequent storms.

Our main concern is that the lost stonework has exposed the rubble filling inside the core of the bridge and there is now significant loss of fill within the structure. Basically, the structure now contains substantial voids making the entire bridge unsafe to loads, and It is not safe to re-open the road until the bridge has been repaired. We are concerned about any loads being put on the structure at all.

This matter is with our Bridges Engineering team now, who are working on the repair solutions, as a priority. Clearly, permanent repairs will require favourable conditions in the river, and agreements with other parties (which are not always straight forward given the status of the bridge).

It is with regret, that I must inform you, that we anticipate that this bridge will remain closed until the end of April 2016. This is a reflection of the magnitude of the damage caused, and of our concern.

While we have already put together some plans to repair the piers, we still require the consent of English Heritage on issues such as the sourcing of acceptable new stone to replace that which has been lost, and there could be English Heritage consent issues with our plans for grouting the voids within the bridge structure itself.

We also need to agree a method of access and environmental consent concerned with undertaking substantial works within the river.

For information, we considered whether it was feasible to deploy a temporary bridge pending permanent repairs, but there are many factors that militate against this including: the width of the river, which would require temporary piers in the river channel; the terrain on the approaches, which would require substantial temporary approach ramps to be constructed and the timescale within which a temporary bridge could be constructed, which is of a similar duration to that required for the permanent repairs.”

 Neil Read
Gressingham Parish Council

Unfortunately, Loyn bridge has had to be closed again! The reason is that a tree trunk which has become lodged between the bridge supports, has been badly eroding the stonework on one of the supports.

The damage is so severe that the LCC has been forced to condemn the bridge as unsafe. With a further storm forecast, they are arranging for the tree to be cut and removed by specialists on Tuesday (29th Dec). The damage will then be assessed.

For safety reasons, the bridge is therefore closed until further notice to both vehicles and pedestrians. (The fire brigade have filled the plastic barriers with water – a truly immovable obstruction!)

The police have issued this warning:
‘We are receiving reports regarding people tampering with the road closures at the Loyn Bridge between Hornby and Gressingham. This puts the safety of local residents at risk. The bridge is currently closed due to damage and is closed for a reason. Engineers will be attending 29/12/15 to assess. If anyone witnesses someone tampering with the barriers please Tel us on 101 quoting log 515/281215.’