WORK has now started on the re-building of Elland Bridge over the Calder & Hebble Navigation that was severely damaged in the Boxing Day floods.
The floods damaged the foundations of the bridge, which can no longer carry traffic, so it has to be taken down, new foundations installed then completely rebuilt, Alan Tilbury tells us.
Divert services
Before work could be started the various utility companies had to divert their services over the navigation that were carried on the bridge, and are now carried on a specially constructed temporary bridge.
As the bridge is over 200 years old it is of course a listed structure, so has to be carefully dismantled with sections catalogued so they can be replaced in the same order.
Stronger
This means the new bridge will look similar to the original, but will have concrete inside the arches to make a stronger structure capable of carrying today's heavy loads.
It is not known how long the work will take, so no re-opening date has been given.