Pooley Bridge Replacement

Last September we wrote about the proposed new road bridge at Pooley Bridge and today we have some news.

The bridge over the river Eamont in the eponymous village of Pooley Bridge at the north east end of Ullswater, was washed away during Storm Desmond in December 2015. The bridge was erected in 1764, replacing an earlier bridge from the 16th century and was a lovely thing to behold.

The old Pooley Bridge

Its loss meant people had to make a significant detour to the east as the next bridge over the Eamont was also out of commission. This caused a great deal of inconvenience to people living locally as well as making it difficult for visitors.

Cumbria County Council moved as fast as they could (they were very busy after Desmond) and put a temporary bridge in place which opened to traffic on 20th March, 2016.

They then put plans together for a new bridge, in a very different style but a thing of some beauty we think.

How the new bridge will look

The work on putting that in place started in September and last Thursday the 300 tonne steel structure which was lifted into place using one of the largest mobile cranes in the country.

Now that the bridge is in place the contractor will continue to complete the finishing works, including completing the steel and concrete required to form the upper road deck and new road surfacing, drainage and parapets, to finish the bridge at the earliest possible opportunity whilst ensuring that the works take place in line with public health guidelines.

The new Pooley Bridge will be the first stainless steel road bridge of its kind in the country. It was scheduled to be completed and the bridge opened in June 2020. However the temporary suspension of works due to Covid-19 restrictions means the timescale for completion of the Pooley Bridge project is subject to change.

Photo of old Pooley Bridge by Peter McDermott and is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 2.0 licence. Image of new bridge and photos of new bridge being swung into place copyright Cumbria Country Council/Knight Architects.

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