Rea Brook in Shrewsbury - emergency work

Last weekend emergency work started to locally divert the Rea Brook away from a Shrewsbury bridge which had been found to have been badly damaged by flooding.

Last Friday (25 January) engineers discovered a large hole in the side of the Rea Brook bridge, which carries the cycleway/footpath running along the old railway line between Pritchard Way and Sutton Road in Shrewsbury.

In order to guard against the possibility of part of the damaged bridge collapsing and blocking the Rea Brook, it was decided to divert the brook through another nearby bridge.

This work is currently intended as a temporary measure; however, this may be reviewed at a later date, depending upon how well it works.

When the Rea Brook has been diverted, the river bed at the damaged bridge will be much drier, which will enable engineers to gain much better and safer access to the bridge to inspect the damage. Only then will they be able to fully assess the situation and decide upon the appropriate remedial strategy.

The diversion of the brook is being carried out by Shropshire County Council, in liaison with Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council and the Environment Agency.

Ever since the bridge damage was discovered, the cycleway/footpath running over it has been closed for safety reasons.

Shropshire County Council’s Principal Bridge Engineer, John Williams, said “The need for this work was totally unexpected, and a lot of people are working hard to get the diversion of the brook completed quickly. In the meantime, it is appreciated that both the work and the cycleway/footway closure is causing some inconvenience, and we will do all that we reasonably can to keep this to a minimum”.

29 January 2008