Reconnecting a village after flooding washes away bridge

Pooley Bridge, Cumbria

Project Overview

Location	Pooley Bridge, Cumbria
Sector	Bridging & Site Access
Products	Mabey Universal Bridge

Unprecedented levels of rainfall caused extensive flooding in the Pooley Bridge area, leading to the collapse of the 18th century bridge.

The challenge

Pooley Bridge village was cut in two by the extensive flooding and isolated from the west bank, causing considerable disruption to residents and businesses.

This led to an urgent need for a temporary bridge during the design stage of a new, permanent structure.

Bridge Collapse

Unprecedented rainfall caused severe flooding in Pooley Bridge, resulting in the collapse of the 18th century structure.

Community Disruption

The village was split in two and cut off from the west bank, creating major disruption for residents and local businesses.

Urgent Temporary Crossing

During the design of a new permanent bridge, an immediate temporary solution was required to restore access and reconnect the community.

Our solution

We worked with Story Contracting to install our largest bridging solution – Mabey Universal Vehicle Bridge – to accommodate pedestrians and two lanes of traffic.

We returned in 2019 to remove the temporary road bridge when the construction of the permanent structure began. Our temporary Pedestrian BeamBridge was then installed to allow pedestrian access while the works were carried out.

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