The contract for building the new Pooley Bridge has been awarded by Cumbria County Council to Eric Wright Civil Engineering Ltd.
The final design is innovative and is the only single span bridge of this type in the country. The final cost will be in the region of £5 million and work is currently scheduled to start on site in May 2019, with a target completion date around late Spring / early Summer 2020, but this completion date will be subject to factors such as the weather.
Commenting on the award of the contract, Cllr Keith Little Cumbria County Council Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said: “This bridge is a very important project to the council and I am delighted that we are now at a stage of awarding the contract. The design is outstanding and I am looking forward to the day when we officially open it and allow this community to truly get back to their day to day business. All work to date, including the design and the timescale, has taken account of local feedback and we have specifically avoided disruption in their peak tourism season.”
Diane Bourne, Managing Director for Eric Wright Civil Engineering added: “We’ve been working closely with Cumbria County Council on the design for the new bridge for the last 12 months and we are delighted to also be appointed for the construction phase. Our team has a great deal of experience in bridge design and construction and we will ensure that the new Pooley Bridge, not only provides resilience against extreme bad weather in the future, but that it continues to connect the community for generations to come. We look forward to celebrating the completion of the project with the local community next year.”
The detailed design work has now been substantially completed and the target dates for the project are as follows:
- March 2019 – Bridge construction Contract Award
- May 2019 – Start enabling works in Pooley and around the bridge (Temporary road bridge remains open)
- September 2019 – Remove temporary road bridge
- October 2019 to April 2020 – Construct permanent road bridge
- Late Spring/early summer 2020 – Open permanent road bridge