Please note:
Gatebeck Lane (from Hutton Gate on the B6254 to Gatebeck) is NOT being gritted as it is not a priority route and is not the official diversion from Old Hutton to Kendal. Take extra care when using this road.
Gatebeck Lane (from Hutton Gate on the B6254 to Gatebeck) is NOT being gritted as it is not a priority route and is not the official diversion from Old Hutton to Kendal. Take extra care when using this road.
St Sunday's Bridge, B6254
Wednesday 16th March:
The bridge reopened today at around 2pm, after being closed for 14 weeks. Here are views of the bridge sans barriers, the first car driving over, and the Parish Clerk helping to tidy up the signage on the approach to the bridge.
The bridge reopened today at around 2pm, after being closed for 14 weeks. Here are views of the bridge sans barriers, the first car driving over, and the Parish Clerk helping to tidy up the signage on the approach to the bridge.
Monday 14th March:
Men are working on the bridge this morning. They said that after they have pumped concrete into the cavity it will take a few days to cure sufficiently for traffic to go over the bridge.
Wednesday 9th March:
I have received the following email from Nick Raymond, the engineer in charge of highways in southern Cumbria:
The specified grout bags have been ordered to match the design and these are expected to arrive on Thursday. There is about 2-3 days work to complete the bagwork and a further 1-2days to allow for curing. That puts the likely opening as mid next week. Clearly the team will look to achieve this sooner if possible.
I think this means he is now saying that the bridge will open by about 17th March.
Friday 26th February:
This morning I have received the following email from Nick Raymond (the engineer in charge of highways in South Lakeland) about St.Sunday’s Bridge:
“Although we had originally hoped to have the bridge reopened by now, that has obviously not been possible. The initial bag work which was completed last week, enabled the props to be inserted to prevent further collapse. The remaining void now needs to be filled and the props removed. The void will be filled with specifically designed grout bags that will be filled under a controlled pressure, and following a curing period and the required strength obtained, the bridge will be reopened.
The lead in time for these bags now means that it is now expected that we can reopen the bridge during week commencing 7th March, most likely towards the end of that week.
I am truly sorry that this is not as quick as everyone had hoped for, but assure you that colleagues are working to ensure the bridge is opened as soon as possible.”
Regards
ARTHUR ROBINSON, Parish Clerk
Wednesday 17th February:
I have received a message from Nick Raymond:
ARTHUR ROBINSON
Wednesday 10th February:
Divers are working on the bridge today installing jacks under the foundations. The jacks will be adjusted to bear a certain load and then will be re-adjusted to take eventually 50 tonnes. This will take several days after which concrete will be put in and then left to cure. The divers say that the whole operation will not take many man-hours but will take up to a week because the bridge has to have time to adjust to the jacks.
At least we know something positive is happening so the end is dimly in sight.
Regards
ARTHUR ROBINSON, Parish Clerk
Follow this link to see CCC's "South Area Flood Recovery Update Briefing Note" dated 8th February regarding the status of bridges in South Cumbria, including St Sunday's Bridge.
Tuesday 9th February - The end is in sight!
As I write (10.45am), divers are doing (what they hope will be) a final survey of St Sunday's Bridge. I have been talking to them, and they say it has been undermined worst on the upstream Middleshaw side by over a metre and was supported with acrows in December. Nick Raymond and the divers have said that work will start this week and will take two days. Several days will then be needed for the concrete to cure.
Today, the divers will also make a final (?) inspection of Beckside Bridge and it will be repaired when work has finished on St.Sunday's Bridge.
Victoria Bridge in Kendal has been repaired and will be load-tested today to see whether it is OK to open it.
I will keep you informed of further progress!
ARTHUR ROBINSON, Parish Clerk
Saturday 6th February:
I have been told that CCC plans to repair St.Sunday's Bridge in the next two weeks. Progress will depend on the river's flow being low.
ARTHUR ROBINSON
Sunday 31st January:
The parish council had hoped that the bridge problem would have been resolved by now. Councillors and myself have been stressing the urgency to politicians and CCC officers. I have emailed Nick Raymond, the engineer in charge of South Lakeland's highways, twice but he has been unable to give me firm news to pass on to you. CCC had hoped to decide last Thursday which of three options to go for but were unable to do so. The options are a temporary bridge downstream, similarly upstream and, thirdly, to repair the bridge like they are trying to do at Victoria Bridge in Kendal. This involves putting large plastic sacks under the undermined foundations and pumping concrete in. It has to be done carefully as concrete is toxic to rivers. I learned yesterday that divers were again seen at the bridge so it is possible that they are trying to assess the extent of the undermining. Nick has assured me that he will let me know as soon as a decision has been made so that I can pass it on to you.
I am guessing that if they decide on the repair option they will have to wait for the river to go down.
He also said that they have work to do on 90 bridges and, because of the most recent floods last week, they are going to have to re-inspect over 630 bridges.
ARTHUR ROBINSON, Parish Clerk
Thursday 14th January:
The government Minister of Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, visited St Sunday's Bridge today with various council officials and highways engineers. They met members of Old Hutton & Holmescales Parish Council and two farmers.
We were assured that the temporary bridge will be in place at the end of next week or the start of the week after. All preparations are going well. It might take up to two years to repair the bridge itself but it will look essentially the same when this has been completed.
Photographs of the visit are here.
Friday 8th January:
I have heard this morning that CCC is working to put a temporary bridge in place next to St Sunday's Bridge within two weeks.
Thursday 31st December:
For your information, here is the latest information about the closure of St Sunday's Bridge. The official closure notice indicates that it will probably be closed for at least another month.
Regards
Arthur Robinson, Parish Clerk
Email from Peter Thornton to Nick Raymond, Senior CCC Highways Network Manager
Dear Nick
Thanks for our meeting on Monday and for giving me some more information about the two bridges in my District Ward, St Sunday’s and Hallbeck.
Ref St Sunday’s, I understand that having assessed the bridge you have concluded that repairs are necessary in order to make the bridge safe for continued use.
Can I emphasise to you the necessity of moving quickly on this and the amount of disruption it is currently causing to the Old Hutton Community? I would also note that the Old Hutton residents have respected the closure and, unlike some areas, have not moved the barriers or used the bridge. I think that this respect deserves the response of moving this bridge to the top of the list.
Can I ask that you consider whether it might be possible to reopen it to light traffic? It would be possible to use concrete barriers to enforce this by constructing a short slalom to exclude heavier traffic.
Can I also ask that you continue your conversation with TK Robinson who, I believe, have offered a temporary solution?
I do realise that you have a lot of bridges to look at and to repair, however I think it worth noting that Old Hutton has put up with a huge amount of traffic serving national infrastructure work. The large amount of work at the sub station, the windfarm, pipeline, quarry traffic etc etc. I have been hugely impressed by their patience over the years and I think it now time that this was repaid.
I look forward to hearing from you and have copied in Arthur Robinson, Parish Clerk and also John Robinson who has the contact at TK Robinson (and Stan of course)
Best wishes
Peter Thornton
Reply from Nick Raymond
Thanks Peter
The current view is that St Sundays bridge can’t be opened to light traffic. The position regarding the diversion route is acknowledged and will help determine its priority. The positive attitude of the community in living with this closure is a credit to them and isn’t being ignored.
Nick
Nick Raymond
Senior Manager - Network Management
Men are working on the bridge this morning. They said that after they have pumped concrete into the cavity it will take a few days to cure sufficiently for traffic to go over the bridge.
Wednesday 9th March:
I have received the following email from Nick Raymond, the engineer in charge of highways in southern Cumbria:
The specified grout bags have been ordered to match the design and these are expected to arrive on Thursday. There is about 2-3 days work to complete the bagwork and a further 1-2days to allow for curing. That puts the likely opening as mid next week. Clearly the team will look to achieve this sooner if possible.
I think this means he is now saying that the bridge will open by about 17th March.
Friday 26th February:
This morning I have received the following email from Nick Raymond (the engineer in charge of highways in South Lakeland) about St.Sunday’s Bridge:
“Although we had originally hoped to have the bridge reopened by now, that has obviously not been possible. The initial bag work which was completed last week, enabled the props to be inserted to prevent further collapse. The remaining void now needs to be filled and the props removed. The void will be filled with specifically designed grout bags that will be filled under a controlled pressure, and following a curing period and the required strength obtained, the bridge will be reopened.
The lead in time for these bags now means that it is now expected that we can reopen the bridge during week commencing 7th March, most likely towards the end of that week.
I am truly sorry that this is not as quick as everyone had hoped for, but assure you that colleagues are working to ensure the bridge is opened as soon as possible.”
Regards
ARTHUR ROBINSON, Parish Clerk
Wednesday 17th February:
I have received a message from Nick Raymond:
- Beckside Bridge opened on Tuesday afternoon
- Work to reopen St Sunday's Bridge will continue into next week, and the current estimate for the reopening is Wednesday 24th February
ARTHUR ROBINSON
Wednesday 10th February:
Divers are working on the bridge today installing jacks under the foundations. The jacks will be adjusted to bear a certain load and then will be re-adjusted to take eventually 50 tonnes. This will take several days after which concrete will be put in and then left to cure. The divers say that the whole operation will not take many man-hours but will take up to a week because the bridge has to have time to adjust to the jacks.
At least we know something positive is happening so the end is dimly in sight.
Regards
ARTHUR ROBINSON, Parish Clerk
Follow this link to see CCC's "South Area Flood Recovery Update Briefing Note" dated 8th February regarding the status of bridges in South Cumbria, including St Sunday's Bridge.
Tuesday 9th February - The end is in sight!
As I write (10.45am), divers are doing (what they hope will be) a final survey of St Sunday's Bridge. I have been talking to them, and they say it has been undermined worst on the upstream Middleshaw side by over a metre and was supported with acrows in December. Nick Raymond and the divers have said that work will start this week and will take two days. Several days will then be needed for the concrete to cure.
Today, the divers will also make a final (?) inspection of Beckside Bridge and it will be repaired when work has finished on St.Sunday's Bridge.
Victoria Bridge in Kendal has been repaired and will be load-tested today to see whether it is OK to open it.
I will keep you informed of further progress!
ARTHUR ROBINSON, Parish Clerk
Saturday 6th February:
I have been told that CCC plans to repair St.Sunday's Bridge in the next two weeks. Progress will depend on the river's flow being low.
ARTHUR ROBINSON
Sunday 31st January:
The parish council had hoped that the bridge problem would have been resolved by now. Councillors and myself have been stressing the urgency to politicians and CCC officers. I have emailed Nick Raymond, the engineer in charge of South Lakeland's highways, twice but he has been unable to give me firm news to pass on to you. CCC had hoped to decide last Thursday which of three options to go for but were unable to do so. The options are a temporary bridge downstream, similarly upstream and, thirdly, to repair the bridge like they are trying to do at Victoria Bridge in Kendal. This involves putting large plastic sacks under the undermined foundations and pumping concrete in. It has to be done carefully as concrete is toxic to rivers. I learned yesterday that divers were again seen at the bridge so it is possible that they are trying to assess the extent of the undermining. Nick has assured me that he will let me know as soon as a decision has been made so that I can pass it on to you.
I am guessing that if they decide on the repair option they will have to wait for the river to go down.
He also said that they have work to do on 90 bridges and, because of the most recent floods last week, they are going to have to re-inspect over 630 bridges.
ARTHUR ROBINSON, Parish Clerk
Thursday 14th January:
The government Minister of Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, visited St Sunday's Bridge today with various council officials and highways engineers. They met members of Old Hutton & Holmescales Parish Council and two farmers.
We were assured that the temporary bridge will be in place at the end of next week or the start of the week after. All preparations are going well. It might take up to two years to repair the bridge itself but it will look essentially the same when this has been completed.
Photographs of the visit are here.
Friday 8th January:
I have heard this morning that CCC is working to put a temporary bridge in place next to St Sunday's Bridge within two weeks.
Thursday 31st December:
For your information, here is the latest information about the closure of St Sunday's Bridge. The official closure notice indicates that it will probably be closed for at least another month.
Regards
Arthur Robinson, Parish Clerk
Email from Peter Thornton to Nick Raymond, Senior CCC Highways Network Manager
Dear Nick
Thanks for our meeting on Monday and for giving me some more information about the two bridges in my District Ward, St Sunday’s and Hallbeck.
Ref St Sunday’s, I understand that having assessed the bridge you have concluded that repairs are necessary in order to make the bridge safe for continued use.
Can I emphasise to you the necessity of moving quickly on this and the amount of disruption it is currently causing to the Old Hutton Community? I would also note that the Old Hutton residents have respected the closure and, unlike some areas, have not moved the barriers or used the bridge. I think that this respect deserves the response of moving this bridge to the top of the list.
Can I ask that you consider whether it might be possible to reopen it to light traffic? It would be possible to use concrete barriers to enforce this by constructing a short slalom to exclude heavier traffic.
Can I also ask that you continue your conversation with TK Robinson who, I believe, have offered a temporary solution?
I do realise that you have a lot of bridges to look at and to repair, however I think it worth noting that Old Hutton has put up with a huge amount of traffic serving national infrastructure work. The large amount of work at the sub station, the windfarm, pipeline, quarry traffic etc etc. I have been hugely impressed by their patience over the years and I think it now time that this was repaid.
I look forward to hearing from you and have copied in Arthur Robinson, Parish Clerk and also John Robinson who has the contact at TK Robinson (and Stan of course)
Best wishes
Peter Thornton
Reply from Nick Raymond
Thanks Peter
The current view is that St Sundays bridge can’t be opened to light traffic. The position regarding the diversion route is acknowledged and will help determine its priority. The positive attitude of the community in living with this closure is a credit to them and isn’t being ignored.
Nick
Nick Raymond
Senior Manager - Network Management
Sunday 20th December:
CCC brought in a diver to inspect the submerged foundations of the bridge yesterday. The water is deep and the walls of the bridge's arch have been undermined by the flood.
Friday 18th December:
Car and lorry drivers have been moving the barriers and continuing to cross the bridge, as a result of which the bridge is now dangerously unstable, with mortar falling off, stones displaced and some large stones cracked across. There are now large silage bales blocking the road, and hopefully these cannot be moved.
Tuesday 15th December:
Please note that St Sunday's Bridge on the B6254 (at the Bleaze Hall lane/New Hutton Lane junction) has been closed as it is structurally unstable. It has been damaged on various occasions over the last few years and it has been reported to the Council several times that the foundations have been undermined. The recent flooding has now rendered the bridge unsafe. Please do not try to remove the barriers, which are there for your own safety. Follow the diversions!
CCC brought in a diver to inspect the submerged foundations of the bridge yesterday. The water is deep and the walls of the bridge's arch have been undermined by the flood.
Friday 18th December:
Car and lorry drivers have been moving the barriers and continuing to cross the bridge, as a result of which the bridge is now dangerously unstable, with mortar falling off, stones displaced and some large stones cracked across. There are now large silage bales blocking the road, and hopefully these cannot be moved.
Tuesday 15th December:
Please note that St Sunday's Bridge on the B6254 (at the Bleaze Hall lane/New Hutton Lane junction) has been closed as it is structurally unstable. It has been damaged on various occasions over the last few years and it has been reported to the Council several times that the foundations have been undermined. The recent flooding has now rendered the bridge unsafe. Please do not try to remove the barriers, which are there for your own safety. Follow the diversions!
Beckside Bridge
Friday 18th December:
CCC engineers have inspected the bridge at Beckside (the minor road between St John's Church and the Holmescales road) and have closed it. There are now barriers across it.
CCC engineers have inspected the bridge at Beckside (the minor road between St John's Church and the Holmescales road) and have closed it. There are now barriers across it.
Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund 2015
Individuals and families affected by the flooding can apply to the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund via the Cumbria Community Foundation by using this downloadable form:
Support for Individuals and Families Application Form
Support for Individuals and Families Application Form