Footbridge wrecked in Christmas storm is finally reopened

Channel swimmers can return to their traditional launch base this summer after Aycliffe’s rail footbridge was reopened.

The bridge had been destroyed along with the Dover to Folkestone line and sea wall by a storm on Christmas Eve 2015.

The line and sea wall were reopened last September and the bridge was formally reopened on Monday.

Now they can use it to take off from Dover’s Shakespeare Beach to France.

Michael Read, who is president of the Channel Swimming Association and has swum the Channel 33 times, said: “I’m delighted that the beach is back because it was always the traditional starting point and Channel swimmers have such an affection for it.

“Over the years we have also been able to use Samphire Hoe and now the pilots can choose a beach depending on the tides and how they will affect the swimmer.”

Network Rail’s director of route asset management, Alan Ross, said: “We knew that this was going to be a huge job.

“We not only had to rebuild and protect the railway between Dover and Folkestone, but we also had to protect the cliff itself.

“We all felt responsible for making this project as good as it could be and finally we can say we’ve achieved our aim and the beach is back open.”

Repairs began in January 2016, when the first of 90,000 tonnes of granite rock armour was delivered to site.

Since then, Network Rail engineers have been working to place the rock armour along a 375m stretch of the wall and put the new footbridge in place across the railway and down to the beach.

The project to rebuild the railway and part of the sea wall at Shakespeare Beach began immediately after Christmas 2015 and cost £39.8m.