Replacement of smashed bridge will cost millions

M20 miracle as motorcyclist only victim of near-disaster

The M20 came to a juddering halt over the Bank Holiday weekend when a pedestrian footbridge collapsed onto the carriageway.

The overpass was knocked down by a digger on the back of lorry as it used the hard shoulder between junctions three and four on Saturday.

The midday crash showered the London-bound carriageway with 170 tonnes of concrete and steel, crushing two lorries and forcing a man to throw himself from his motorbike to escape the debris.

Police declared a major incident and closed the motorway in both directions, causing tailbacks which at their height reached 15 miles on one of the busiest weekends of the year.

Miraculously, only the motorcyclist, a 73-year-old man from Tunbridge Wells, was injured, suffering suspected broken ribs.

Workers and emergency services toiled through the night to clear the rubble and fallen sections were cut up and loaded by heavy duty cranes onto lorries and driven away.

Repairs were then carried out to the road surface and safety barrier and the motorway reopened on Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday (Wednesday), the coast-bound section of the bridge remained standing like a broken tooth, having been assessed as safe by structural engineers.

Highways England has started planning the multi- million pound project to demolish what remains of the span and build a new bridge in its place.

Its chief engineer, Catherine Brookes, says demolition will happen “in the coming weeks”.

She said: “We’ve had chartered structural engineers inspecting it and actually brought in somebody else to give us a second opinion to make absolutely cer- tain. We will be demolishing that section of the bridge and replacing the footbridge with a brand new one, but we are content it’s safe to remain and we wanted to get the road open safely as quickly as possible.”

Ms Brookes says the volume of traffic over the Bank Holiday formed part of their decision to leave the remaining section of the bridge standing.

She added: “We are now in the planning phase of that work and I anticipate the demolition to happen in the coming weeks.

“The replacement of the footbridge will be planned to mini- mise disruption as much as possible.”

A 50mph speed limit along the stretch remains and nearby footpaths have been closed.

Police say no arrests have been made but witnesses to the crash are asked to call an appeal line on 01622 798538.

An aerial view of the scene with the remaining stretch of the bridge in the foreground

The digger is moved as the clear-up begins, with motorway traffic backed up for 15 miles at its worst