Number of crumbling bridges rises for second year running
Many crossings are unable to carry the heaviest vehicles
Last updated 25th Mar 2022
An increasing number of Britain's bridges are crumbling with many unable to carry the heaviest vehicles, according to local authority figures.
3,211 bridges were rated as being substandard at the end of last year, the RAC Foundation said.
That is up 3.4% on the total of 3,105 in 2020, and up 5.1% on the figure of 3,055 in 2019.
Councils reported that 17 bridges fully collapsed during the previous 12 months, including 12 in Dorset
Many of bridges are subject to weight restrictions, while others are under programmes of increased monitoring or even managed decline.
Some are substandard because they were built to earlier design standards, while others have deteriorated through age and use.
Between them, local authorities say they would ideally want to bring 2,374 of the 3,105 substandard bridges back up to full carrying capacity.
But budget constraints mean they anticipate that only 379 will have the necessary work carried out on them within the next five years.
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: "Bridges, as defined by highway engineers, come in all shapes and sizes, from soaring structures that span rivers and cross estuaries, through the many modest bridges designed centuries ago for the horse and cart, right down to those that are little more than culverts carrying water under a carriageway.
"But even the failure of the shortest of these structures could mean a five-foot long gap in the carriageway, and even on relatively minor roads that can still be a headache, causing disruption and possibly a long diversion.
"What the data suggests is that councils have been fighting to hold their ground over the last five years.
"Whilst the increase in substandard bridges year-on-year is not huge the picture over the last five years looks more like flatlining than sustained improvement, and with the threat of more severe weather events linked to climate change that must be a worry for the overall resilience of our highway network."