Return of bridge in Beverley to be delayed by a…
Weel Bridge will now not reopen until August The return and reopening of a metal road bridge in Beverley is to be delayed after engineers carrying out vital improvement work uncovered new hidden defects. East Riding Council is investing £1m to upgrade the 70-year-old Weel Bridge, which carries traffic over the River Hull, between Beverley and the village of Weel. In April, the 20-tonne structure was hoisted from its bearings and transported to Sheffield for specialist refurbishment by council contractor Esh Construction. However, as the work progressed, engineers uncovered crucial new issues within the aluminium structure, which have been caused by corrosion over the years. Extra repairs and safety checks are now needed, delaying the project by around four weeks. The council said additional time had already been factored into the original schedule for issues, but the newly discovered damage was completely unforeseen. The contractor has also experienced some supply chain issues because of the hidden faults. Therefore, the bridge is now due to return and reopen to the public in August, rather than in July as originally scheduled. Councillor Paul West, East Riding Council’s cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “We are sorry not to be able to reopen the bridge as we planned in July, but there’s no way we can avoid this. “These extra defects found need to be repaired before we can return …
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