Shropshire Star

Telford's new £10 million footbridge hit by flooding problem

Telford & Wrekin Council has said it is "working with contractors" to fix flooding problems on its new £10 million footbridge.

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Telford & Wrekin Council has said it is “working with contractors” to fix the problems. Photo: Jamie Ricketts

It emerged over the weekend that the bridge has been struck by drainage problems in heavy rainfall, leading to large puddles on the walkway.

A post on Facebook highlighted the problem, with scores of the town’s residents commenting in response.

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Telford & Wrekin Council said that the problems over the weekend related to a blocked drain which has since been cleared.

But, the council also confirmed that the bridge has been hit with drainage problems during heavy rainfall.

The news comes just a week after it was revealed Telford’s new bus station is also leaking during heavy rain.

Gareth Pegg, group manager for highways and engineering at the council said that they would be speaking to the contractors to find a way to prevent the bridge flooding in future.

He said: “We are aware of the drainage issues on the footbridge during periods of heavy rainfall and we have a short term solution in place.

Landmark

“We know there is some pretty awful weather heading our way this week and our engineers are keeping a close eye on things. A blocked drain actually caused many of the problems over the weekend and therefore we will be making more regular checks to ensure drains are kept clear.

“We are continuing our work with the contractors to secure a more longer term solution.”

The bridge opened in November last year and replaced one of Telford’s landmarks – the red footbridge seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors to the town every year.

A glass panel on the bridge was found smashed

Only last month the glass-sided walkway, which links Telford Central Railway Station to Telford Shopping Centre and spans the A442 Queensway, was given the overall winner’s prize at Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) West Midlands’ annual awards dinner.

The £10 million Telford Footbridge Project also won the team achievement and the medium project awards.

However, the flooding is not the only issue affecting the bridge after a glass panel was smashed last week.

It has not yet been discovered how the panel was broken, but it will have to be replaced with a closure of the road likely to be required to carry out the work.

The council has said the work will be scheduled for overnight to minimise disruption.