Weaver Swing Bridge opens

THE swing bridge at Frodsham over the Weaver has been restored at a cost of £4.5 millions, and will open for traffic in the early hours of Friday 10th October.

It was the sheer determination of one man, Tom Reynolds, (Little hope for Weaver bridge) who was instrumental in getting this bridge repaired against the intransigence of various councils and British Waterways, all of whom wanted to allow it to rust away.

Do it themselves

He and his helpers were prepared to clear off the rust and repaint the bridge themselves, (Fighting for the Weaver bridge) but British Waterways would have none of it, bringing in the health and safety card to stop it. The picture above is of the bridge before restoration, with the one below as it is now.

But eventually it was agreed to restore the bridge, which carries the busy A56 trunk road, and it will reopen to traffic overnight in the early hours of Saturday 11th October. Work will then start to dismantle the temporary bridge which has kept road traffic moving while the restoration of the swing bridge took place.

The funding for the project came from Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC), the Department for Transport and the Canal & River Trust. The project was managed by the trust, in conjunction with the council, with Kier as the main contractor.

Part of the work included replacement of the deck and beneath the bridge there as been extensive refurbishment of the unique buoyancy tank structure on which the bridge swings.

Ceremony

At a special ceremony to mark the project's completion on Friday 10th October, a vintage Leyland Cub lorry and a modern day HGV, supplied by Huntapac Produce Ltd, will drive across the bridge to highlight the vehicle weight changes the bridge has had to cope with since it opened in 1926. On the river, a flotilla of rowing boats from Runcorn Rowing Club and boats from the River Weaver Navigation Society will also join in the celebrations.