In October 2010, Victoria Bridge was closed to pedestrians and cyclists in the interests of public safety. This closure followed a scheduled periodic inspection of the bridge’s structural condition by Bath & North East Somerset Council. Since this time, independent structural engineers have conducted further regular detailed inspections to ascertain its condition.
The most recent set of inspections have resulted in concern about the deterioration in the condition of the bridge. The Council has acted swiftly to respond to these recent inspections to maintain public safety and protect the bridge.
Current Situation
The Council took the decision last week to temporarily close the River Avon path which runs under the bridge to allow emergency works to take place to prop-up the bridge on both sides of the river. Whilst the tow path on the south side will remain closed due to the Bath Riverside works, they had planned to re-open the path on the northern side once the propping-up works were completed and tow path was considered safe.
Regrettably, the further test results received on Friday 11th November 2011 revealed further deterioration of the structure, especially on one of the central hangars. This is a serious issue as any weakness in the central area of the bridge increases the risk to the structure. Because of the problem on the central hangar, the temporary closure on the northern side of the river remains.
These issues were reported to British Waterways (BW) who took the decision to close the River Avon in the vicinity of Victoria Bridge. The Council fully supports this decision and is keeping BW informed of our actions. Alongside BW, we urge river users to observe the restriction in place in the interests of their safety.
Next Steps
The Council recognises that the bridge is a key route in the city and it has a significant heritage value to the city. Engineers are making significant efforts to find a solution to protect this highly complex structure. Their approach consists of three phases.
Phase One – Emergency Works
These consist of propping-up the bridge either side of the river – already complete – and temporarily strapping the bridge to support the structure. The straps were manufactured on Tuesday 15th November 2011 and will be applied this week. It may take up to several days to complete this operation.
Although the works will help address the effects of the deterioration of the structure, these works are highly unlikely to be able to allow the tow path to re-open or BW to make a decision to open the River Avon on this stretch. Continuous weekly inspections of the structure will go on.
Phase Two – Temporary Works
In approximately one month, work will start on constructing a temporary truss that will also provide the necessary support to safeguard the bridge and also enable the permanent restoration of the bridge. Upon completion of these works anticipated to take up to 6 weeks, BW can make a decision on whether or not it is safe to re-open this stretch of the River Avon.
The Council researched the options extensively and this design was developed from a proven solution used by Scottish Heritage in the conservation and repair of the Bridge of Oich, in Scotland and is a very similar bridge by the same Bath bridge builder, Thomas Dredge.
This temporary works solution provides both an early protection to limit the risk of collapse and also serve as an efficient, safe working platform on which to undertake permanent refurbishment.
Phase Three – Full Restoration
B&NES are proactively developing potential permanent solutions to permanently fix the problem and have been liaising with English Heritage on the permanent restoration of this technically complex, listed structure to re-open the bridge to the public. It is envisaged that this third phase of work could be completed by winter 2013.
Clarification on Bath Riverside Section 106 planning agreement
Under the existing agreement between the Council and Crest Nicholson as part of the Bath Western Riverside planning agreement, Crest will provide funding for works to Victoria Bridge and Victoria Bridge North.
This money can only cover works of a non-structural nature, for example the re-decoration of the superstructure, graffiti removal and masonry cleaning and re-pointing and paving, lighting and hard landscape improvement. In other words, they cannot be used to repair the structure. There is no possibility of this money being used for this purpose in any circumstances under the terms of the current agreement.
