Councillor raises concerns over longevity of Royal Borough-maintained bridges

A Royal Borough councillor has revealed that three bridges under the responsibility of the council are ‘basically sound’ after concerns over their longevity were raised.  

At a meeting of the full council on Tuesday evening at Maidenhead Town Hall, Cllr Ewan Larcombe (NFPP, Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury) spoke of concerns over two timber bridges in the borough being ‘at the end of their lives’ and estimated that they would cost in the region of £2m to remove and replace.  

In a question to the council, Cllr Larcombe asked how many of the bridges, which resulted from the creation of the Jubilee River Flood Relief Channel by the Environment Agency more than two decades ago, are now ‘partially or wholly the responsibility’ of the borough.  

Cllr Richard Coe (Lib Dem, Riverside) revealed that the council is wholly responsible for three bridges – Black Potts Footbridge in Windsor, Pococks Lane also in Windsor and Michael's Bridge (The Myrke Footbridge) in Datchet.  

In a supplementary question referring to the Black Potts Footbridge and Michael's Bridge, which are both timber structures, Cllr Larcombe said: “I think they are at the end of their lives and I think there might be an inspection report of some sort.  

“But I estimate that the removal and replacement costs of these two bridges, which are our responsibility and are a lot bigger than the Berry Hill Footbridge, will be in the region of two million pounds.” 

The Berry Hill Footbridge, located near Taplow Riverside Park has been closed to the public since May 2021 because of ‘structurally-critical timber sections’ of the bridge ‘deteriorating beyond repair’.  

Last month a spokesperson for Buckinghamshire Council told the Advertiser that the council is working with its consultants to replace the missing mid-section of the bridge (which was removed in December 2021) early next year. 

Cllr Larcombe added that in designing and building the bridges and the channel, he believes that the Environment Agency ‘cut the costs at every possible opportunity’.  

“My question is, bearing in mind that these low-cost timber bridges were designed and installed by the Environment Agency, is it fair and reasonable that the RBWM budget should have to bear these costs?,” Cllr Larcombe said.  

Cllr Coe said: “I have been supplied with the condition reports and the opinion of the chartered engineer at Project Centre is that all three bridges are basically sound.  

“There may need to be some work in replacing the decks on the wooden bridges, but the structural elements are meant to be in good order. 

“So I don't think we're going be worrying about two million pounds in the very near future.” 

Cllr Coe confirmed that all three bridges have been adopted and are the responsibility of the Royal Borough to maintain.  

In response to a question from Cllr Larcombe about how the borough came to adopt the bridges, Cllr Coe said he is still waiting for ‘detailed advice’ to confirm whether the council had to adopt the bridges or not.  

He said: “There is some confusion because the adoptions of the structures occurred about the same time as local government reorganisation in Berkshire, so it's not clear to legal officers yet whether Berkshire adopted them or whether we adopted them.” 

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “The Environment Agency now manages four of the 21 bridges over the Jubilee River.

“Black Potts and Myrke footbridges and the road bridge at Pococks Lane are managed by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, while Berry Hill footbridge is maintained by Buckinghamshire Council, having been handed over shortly after completion.

“The design of each bridge was assessed and accepted by experts at the time, and we provided funding to contribute to ongoing repairs and replacement.  

“We strongly reject the idea we cut costs when constructing the bridges, built to approved standards at that time.

"They are more than 20 years old and, like any structure, will not last forever. It is up to those currently responsible for them to oversee any maintenance.”