Whitby’s swing bridge will undergo an emergency repair this week after a series of closures and chaos over recent weeks caused by hot weather causing the bridge to fail.
Over the the last seven days the swing bridge has got stuck when opening and closing several times.
It meant the bridge was unpassable for pedestrians and vehicles, with people having to walk from one side of town to the other and cars all having to divert over the new bridge with long tailbacks and traffic jams as a result.
North Yorkshire Council announced this afternoon (Monday) a team of bridge and highways experts from North Yorkshire Council will work through the night tomorrow (Tuesday) to try and resolve the issues stopping the swing bridge from closing properly.
The work will require a full road closure on site from 6pm tomorrow (Tuesday, June 30) to 2am on Wednesday (July 1).
Engineers will attempt to remove any corrosion from the ends of the two sections of the bridge, which meet when it is opened and closed.
A shuttle bus will be in place from 6pm to midnight tomorrow to ferry people across the two sides of town.
North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for highways and infrastructure, Barrie Mason, said: “We fully appreciate the impact this issue is having on the town, its residents, businesses and visitors and we will do everything we can to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.
“The structure is inspected every three months, but for this particular programme we will be looking for, and removing, any build-up of corrosion on the deck ends.
“Normally the function of the swing bridge’s own opening and closing would naturally remove any rust building up as the two sides move. The extremes of heat we have seen may well have impacted on this, so we will be looking for any signs of that.
“Some noise is to be expected, and there may be a delay in starting if the bridge is too warm, but we are committed to sorting it out.
“In the near future, we are also looking to put in some light-coloured high friction surfacing as a further measure to reduce heat build-up.
“I want to thank everyone for their patience and reassure them we are taking this very seriously. While we do this, we ask that people don’t take unnecessary risks and respect the closure.”
The current swing bridge was built in 1908. The bridge spans 75 feet and each section can be operated independently to swing horizontally.
