3,500 bridges ‘too weak to take lorries’

ALMOST 3,500 council-maintained bridges are not strong enough to take the heaviest lorries.

Alarming figures provided by 204 of the 207 local highway authorities in England, Scotland and Wales show the number of ‘ substandard’ bridges, which face a greater risk of collapsing, is rising.

In Wigan 100 out of 158 bridges were substandard, meaning they do not meet modern building standards.

In total, 3,441 bridges are not able to cope with the weight of the heaviest vehicles, such as lorries weighing up to 44 tons.

It could cost £934million, or about £271,000 per bridge, to fix them all.

Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation, which carried out the analysis, said: ‘We are not saying 3,500 bridges are about to collapse, but these figures show just how many are not up to traffic demands.’

Many substandard bridges already have weight restrictions, while others are monitored by local councils.