Tenbury Bridge Work 7 Down, 3 to Go

The upstream railings have now been revealed, but as many have pointed out are already showing dirt stains.  It seems that a forensic paint analysis showed the bridge has always been painted a shade of white, and so English Heritage insisted this should continue.

The work is still on schedule and WCC have issued another update.

The downstream railing are now getting the grit blast and repaint treatment and I guess this will be finished in the next few days.

This leaves just the waterproofing of the concrete extensions, the replacement of the curb stones, the resurfacing of the pavements & carriageway.

Who knows, with luck & good weather the bridge might even be opened earlier than the target date of March 16th.

Tenbury Bridge Work 6 Down, 4 to Go

There seems to be little visable progress this week except for work on the railings, which are slowly reappearing coated with the English Heritage prescribed white colour. 

Hopefully progress will now be swift, and the road bed replaced so that Tenbury can get back on track, with the bridge opening by March 16th.

Tenbury Bridge Work 5 Down, 5 to Go

Well, we are half way through the Tenbury Teme Bridge refurbishment.  There is less visible progress this week but the strong smell of solvents coming from the tenting probably means that things are happening out of view.

Many of the damaged blocks under the arches have now been replaced, and I can confirm that there are definitely large salmon in the Teme. (Either that or I sniffed too much solvent)  A large fish broke water under the arch just after I took the photo.  It had gone before I could take another!

Harriett Baldwin MP &  County Cllr Ken Pollock were visiting shopkeepers today to discuss the project.

Tenbury Bridge Work 4 Down, 6 to Go

More progress this week, with much of the downstream pavement being encased in concrete.

The reason for the scaffolding is now clear.  It is to support the "tenting" to allow the (I guess) sandblasting (or similar) of the railings to take them back to bare metal so that modern high specification coatings can be applied.

Hopefully the light coating of snow will not slow the proceedings.

It seems that the North car park has been full to capacity on many occasions last week & a number of people have questioned whether the diversionary routes are really being treated as promised in cold weather.

The Town was very busy Saturday morning, perhaps because of the threat of snow, but I found that I had to queue in quite a few shops (and not the usual ones) which must be a positive sign for some.

The first "Tenbury Windfall" draw takes place on Monday.

Tenbury Bridge Work 3 Down, 7 to Go

It seems that the contractors are making steady progress.

The upstream pavement bed has been set with concrete and part of the road bed has been dug up.

Scaffolding has appeared, although at this stage, to my untrained eye, I have not idea what it's for.

The car parking situation seems to have been mostly resolved, and there seems to be less problems with cars arriving to find no space available.  Some shops have publicly complained about a steep downturn in trade, whilst other have reported (much less publicly) that their figures are holding up and they are doing better than expected.  Interestingly where they are able to compare their figures with other branches in other towns, then the are pleasantly surprised.

The number of completed windfall cards is rapidly increasing, with the collecting boxes becoming very heavy.  Only time will tell where the shoppers have come from, but stickers are being collected by the thousands.

The date of the first draw has been scheduled for 6th February, with the Tenbury Mayor due to draw the winning ticket.

Tenbury on the Radio

Tenbury has featured today on a couple of local radio stations.


BBC Hereford & Worcester  (at 2:06 & 2:34)


and 


BBC Shropshire (at 1:43)

Tenbury Bridge Work 2 Down, 8 to Go

So two weeks in. The upstream pavement has now been excavated and more service pipes exposed. Whilst at the Northern end of the Bridge work has started on backfilling the pavement area with concrete. 

The arch nearest the Shropshire bank has also been cleared of vegetation which will greatly assist flow in the event of a spate.

Richard Attwood, Engineering Project Manager at Worcestershire County Council, confirmed this week that despite what appeared to be a slow start, the work was proceeding to schedule and that they were still working to a completion date of March 16th.

The problems with parking rubble on, but following the request for people parking cars all day to use the car park at Burford Village Hall, the situation has eased considerably.

The Tenbury Windfall scheme seems to be going from strength to strength and has captured the imagination of shoppers in Tenbury Wells, with apple stickers being handed out when shoppers make a purchase. The scheme has already proved so popular that 100,000 stickers have been distributed to Tenbury's shops, pubs and cafes in just one week!

There have been suggestions that a very few people have tried to abuse the scheme, but actions have been put in place to reduce this and the Police have indicated that they would be willing to investigate any fraudulent behaviour.

Despite the gloom of catastrophic trading results predicted by some shopkeepers, Ashley's bakers from Cleobury Mortimer have opened a new branch in Teme Street and when I visited on Saturday were doing a very brisk trade.  So they should, their buns are delicious, but I do now fear for my waistline which has previously been protected (to some extent) by the lack of availability in Tenbury. 

Tenbury Bridge Work 1 Down, 9 to Go

My first visit to the Bridge site since the closure.  Seems that so far  Volker Fitzpatrick have managed to expose the pipes under one pavement.

I wonder who's pipes they are.  I can only guess they are BT's as there is no way they would contain a gas or liquid!

I had heard stories about much leaning on railings and smoking, but not a lot of activity.  Hopefully the speed of progress will speed up and not slow down.  It seems that no early completion bonus was included in the contract, and if the project runs over, only WCC's additional costs are covered by way of a penalty, so probably only about 0.1% of the contact cost per week.

As nice as it has been to have a much quieter shopping experience in town, the drive around the diversionary route has added considerably to my working week.

On a more positive note, the Windfall scheme seems to be doing well. Too early to tell if it has attracted or retained any shoppers, but everyone seems to know about it and some have already completed their first card.

The shuttle bus, now seems to have a notice in it's window declaring what it is, but I haven't worked out why it doesn't run during the period the children are going to school or coming home (unless it's the obvious - the bus is used on a school pick up run).

Much has been said about the car park on the North end of the bridge. Whilst it seems rather short sighted that the shop owners and workers park there (as it does when they park in Teme Street), thus stopping any potential shoppers parking, but then, where should they park.  I think everyone missed the fact that so many shop owners / workers now live out of town. Hopefully, WCC will make additional parking available.  Two very good options have been presented to them.

I think this proves that the parking planned for the Tesco site is inadequate, and unless Tesco make off site provision for their staff, there will be trouble ahead.  It is almost inconceivable that many of their staff will arrive by public transport as envisaged by their management planners, but then if the CEO didn't know that their customers were deserting them in droves over Christmas  anything is possible.

Car Parking During the Tenbury Teme Bridge Closure.

Two temporary car parks have been created for use during the closure of Teme bidge.

Free carparks have been created at either end of the Bridge – marked in blue on this map. 

• Car Parks will be open 24 hours a day. 
• The bridge will remain open to pedestrians at all times. 
• Vistors arriving via the A456 may park on the Burford side of the river and walk across the bridge into the town. 
• Visitors arriving via routes from the South may park in car parks in the town. 
• There will be turning facilities at the bridge end of Teme Street for delivery vehicles and lorries to enable them to turn around and leave town from the direction in which they entered – area marked in red on this map. 

Click here for full car parking details.

Click here for the bridge information from WCC

Teme Bridge Closure - Fire Cover Contingency Arrangements

Tenbury Wells Fire Station is crewed solely by "On Call" firefighters, who respond to the fire station in Burford when required to attend emergency calls, when alerted by a pager  There are two fire engines based at Tenbury Wells Fire Station.

From Sunday 8th January, one of the fire engines based at Tenbury Wells Fire Station will be relocated to a temporary fire station at Bromyard Road Industrial Estate.

Read the full Fire Cover Contingency Arrangements on the Tenbury Fire Station Website.

If you have any queries or concerns, a fire crew will be in Tenbury Town Centre on Saturday 7th January between 9am and 11am to answer any questions.

Station Commander Chris Churchill from Malvern Fire Station, who is the lead officer for the fire service plans will also be available to speak to, as well as other staff from various departments.

The Bridge will be closed for 10 weeks or less!

Worcester County Council announced tonight that they have appointed Birmingham based Volker Fitzpatrick and their Worcester based sister company Laser as main contractors for the repair of Tenbury's Teme Bridge.

The bridge is still scheduled to close on 9th January but the plan is for the work that involves the road closure to be completed by 16th March.  This period also includes some contingency time so that there is a possibility that it could open even sooner.

A temporary car park will be established for 50 cars on the North side of the bridge and the old cattle market will be repaired and marked out for parking on the south side.  The charge in the MHDC Teme Street car park will be reduced to 10p for up to 2 hours.

Landrover are sponsoring an additional 4x4 vehicle so that Police will have additional cover and all the Police Officers radios now contain trackers so that the control room can task the nearest officer to any incident.  Police numbers will also be maintained at normal operation levels for the duration and any absences will be back-filled by officers from other areas.

Hereford & Worcester Fire & Rescue Services will maintain two appliances at the Burford Station and an additional appliance will be based at the Bromyard Road Business Park.  Additional appliances will be tasked from Bromyard & Leominster automatically for all calls rather than the current system of calling them in if required.

Ambulance cover will remain the same with vehicles being tasked from Leominster, Bromyard, Ludlow & Kidderminster.  The destination hospital may vary depending on where the patient lives.

A temporary shuttle bus will run from Bromyard Road Business Park to Lloyds Bank and back.  There is an ongoing discussion about providing a bus from the North end of the bridge to the hospital, but this hasn't been finalised.

The main signed diversion routes will be via main roads.  The smaller "local" diversion routes will have a weight restriction of 7.5 tonnes (except for access).  All these routes will be treated (gritted) should the need arise.

Tenbury Teme Bridge - Update

Residents and traders are being offered the opportunity to find out more about the plans for essential works on Tenbury's Teme Bridge due to start in the new year. 

A second "Public Briefing is taking place on 17 November at Tenbury High School, in Oldwood Road. The event starts at 7.30pm.

Click here for full article.

Bridge Meeting a Disappointment to Some.

150 or so local people, including some Town Councillors, Shopkeepers, and representatives from the Emergency Services gathered at Tenbury High School on Wednesday to hear the County Council's briefing about the closure of Teme Bridge for repairs.

The meeting was rather light on information, as much of what was revealed was already well know locally.

The only bit of "news" was that English Heritage had refused permission for the upstream pavement to be removed, so the planned widening will no longer happen.

The bridge is expected to be closed for up to five months from 9th January, although it was hoped that it would be possible to use the bridge for periods during that time.  A footpath would be maintained during the closure period and a temporary car park will be established on the North side of the bridge.

The contractor will be chosen not on a least cost basis, but one who can finish the work quickly and can make the bridge available for traffic for as much of the time as possible.  Full details of all these arrangements should be available by mid November, once the contractor had been appointed.

It was explained that the bridge needed repairing and that as it no longer met the statutory requirements additional works would be carried out to bring the bridge up to specification.  It was hoped that these repairs would be the last major repairs for the next 120 years.

There had been calls for the repairs to be shelved, and have a weight limit instead, but it was explained that this would only delay the need to spend even more money in the future and weight limits are virtually unenforceable.

The Council also commented on the idea of a new bridge, but said that they didn't have access to the necessary £8 to £10 million pounds, and that the bridge would have to be sited much further up or down stream as it would not be allowed within sight of the old bridge, and the old bridge couldn't be demolished.

There were calls from the floor for a temporary bridge to be installed during the work which could be funded by tolls.  Again the Council explained that they hadn't the money for a temporary bridge.

A shop keeper asked if they would get compensation for the loss of trade, but was told that no compensation would be available, although there might be the possibility of some rate relief.

The Council said that all the diversionary routes would be gritted in the event of bad weather.  Separate routes would be sign posted for HGVs.

The Fire & Rescue Service will station an engine at the Bromyard Road Business Park during the closure.
Ambulance control will ensure cover is available via the diversionary routes or from Leominster or Bromyard. The Police will have an additional vehicle available in Tenbury.

Tenbury Advertiser
BBC News
Malvern Hills DC

Who are Tenbury Futures?

The latest issue of the Teme Valley Times is now available from your local stockists, and once again it contains information and ideas provided by Tenbury Futures.

On their website they describe themselves "A Proactive Alliance of Concerned Local Residents and Businesses" and whilst they remain an "organisation" with no identifiable format or leadership, they seem to have decided to take the position of Town Council, Chamber of Trade and Civic Society to name just three local organisations.

Or is it they disagree with the democratically elected organisations so decided they would just ignore them and create sufficient confusion to get their opposing voice heard.

They claim that the "majority" this and the "majority" that, but if you look closely at the figures you will see that in fact what they really mean is the "majority" of the tiny minority who expressed an opinion or answered a closed question.

In their latest questionnaire they have replies from 32 shops, (out of nearly 100) so were the other shops not interested, did they have opinions that didn't meet the criteria, or did they feel that Tenbury Futures didn't have a mandate to be asking the questions, or did the questionnaires only go to the traders who they thought would give the right answers?

The Town Council and other duly elected representatives have been working and lobbying for many years to get the bridge repaired, and yes the closure will be a major inconvenience, but nothing compared to perhaps losing the bridge altogether in the next flood.  If that happened, who would people look to for a solution?  Tenbury Futures or the various Council officials.

I reported back in April that the bridge would have to close for repairs.  Why is it only now six months later that there is a call to postpone the work? If the traders were so unhappy with the plan, why did so few attend the Chamber of Trade AGM, or at least have the subject raised as an agenda item.  Is it perhaps that the chances of the Tesco application being approved is very high, and this is seen by Tenbury Futures (aka the TesNo group) as a way to also postpone the planning decision.

I think many of the ideas presented by Tenbury Futures have merit, but we live in a democracy with systems and procedures, so it's far better to join the establishment and try to change it from the inside than to keep floating ill conceived ideas in the press.  Perhaps, these proactive residents can join some of the existing Tenbury organisations and invigorate them with energy and new ideas.

Public Briefing Teme Bridge Tenbury

A Public Briefing about the Teme Bridge Tenbury refurbishment will be held at Tenbury High School on Wednesday 21st September 2011 between 7:30 and 9:30 pm.

The purpose of the briefing is to advise on arrangements during the bridge closure to traffic from 9th January 2012.

Advanced notice of issues you wish to raise at the meeting can be conveyed through:

Email - highwayscontrolcentre@worcestershire.gov.uk , or

Telephone – Worcestershire Hub 0845 607 2005

Tenbury Teme Bridge Closure

The planned closure of the Teme Bridge will be one of the greatest challenges that have faced Tenbury in recent years.  Even the flooding and the subsequent recovery time, may measure lower on the scale of effect.

There is no doubt that sooner or later the work will have to be done, and a planned approach is likely to be less disruptive than an "emergency response".

These are some links about the closure.

Worcester County Councils Latest Information July 2011
Worcester County Council Information
BBC News 17th July 2011
BBC News 7th July 2011
Tenbury Advertiser 4th July 2011
Tenbury Town Council Mayors Announcement 1st July 2011
Tenbury Advertiser 1st July 2011
BBC News 14th April 2011
Tenbury Blog 4th April 2011

Teme Bridge - Mayor's pronouncement,

Click to enlarge.

The final plans are still to be completed, but the plan at the moment is to install a concrete slab across the entire width of the bridge to spread the load equally.  A pavement will be installed on one side only, with a narrow protective strip on the other to protect the railings.  This will allow the carriageway to be widened slightly.

As much work as possible will be done before the closure and off-site. The installation of a temporary road bridge has been ruled out.

Tenbury to Burford Teme Bridge Closures

This is for the initial investigation work.

There will be a longer closure starting early next year.

Tenbury's Teme Bridge to Close for Months.

It was announced tonight that Tenbury's historic Teme Bridge will initially be closed to all vehicular traffic on several Sundays in May & June 2011 for extensive structural investigations.

Once the extent of the work is known, a full work schedule will be produced.  It is expected that the required works will take several months to complete and will require complete closure of the bridge to all traffic.

It is likely, although not confirmed that the closure will start in December 2011 and continue well into the new year.

It is expected that a temporary car park will be established on the Shropshire side of the river and a temporary footbridge will be installed to enable people to walk into town.

Teme Bridge - What is the truth?

Mystery still surrounds the question; how structurally sound is the Teme Bridge in Tenbury Wells?

A statement given by WCC Cllr Pollock to the Tenbury Town Council at their February 2010 meeting, seemed to indicate that only remedial repairs are required but this seems at odds with WCCs own bridge report compiled after the last principal inspection in 2005 which read:-

Extract from Worcester County Councils bridge report.

A4112 Teme Bridge, Tenbury
Teme Bridge carries the A4112 over the River Teme in Tenbury Wells, linking the town itself to the A456, which provides the strategic route to Worcester and Kidderminster to the East, and Ludlow and Leominster via the A49 to the West. The alternatives routes in Tenbury from this directions involve narrow and hilly roads that are particularly unsuitable for the Heavy Goods Vehicles bringing goods to the town centre businesses.

The original bridge dates back to the Fourteenth Century, although the southern three arches were re-built in the Eighteenth Century. In 1815 the northern three spans were widened to a design by Thomas Telford, and further widening was undertaken in 1868. In 1908 reinforced concrete extensions were constructed on both elevations of the bridge to a design by L.G. Mouchel and Partners.

The structure therefore comprises of six sandstone arches, with spans varying between 7.2 metres and 8.4 metres, with widening having been undertaken using reinforced concrete beam and slab construction. In 1952 the soffit of the concrete extensions were treated with sprayed concrete and most recently in 1995 additional transverse beams were installed to strengthen the southern three spans. This last piece of work followed an assessment that identified the need for a weight restriction if strengthening work was not carried out.

Such a restriction would have a significant impact upon local businesses within Tenbury. A Principal Inspection (PI) in October 2005 identified further problems with the bridge, notably erosion of masonry, cracking and displacements of stonework, water penetration of the reinforced concrete extensions, and spalling of the concrete.
Additionally, the south-east wingwall is showing signs of movement, probably due to settlement of the fill behind the abutment. Given the above it is likely that major repairs will be required to Teme Bridge, and these will form a high priority due to the need to maintain a reasonable level of access to Tenbury itself. Further site investigations are underway to establish the interface between the original arch structure and the concrete extension and to allow a full assessment of the bridge to be completed.

Given the historic nature of this structure, there will be extensive consultation with English Heritage, whilst the timing of any works will need to be the subject of extensive local consultation to minimise the disruption that will inevitably occur locally.

The proposed programme and associated costs for Teme Bridge is as follows:
Year Action Cost
2006/07 Investigation and reassessment of concrete extensions £15,000
2007/08 Detailed mapping of defects to support ancient monument consent £30,000
2007/08 Feasibility and English Heritage liason £15,000
2007/08 Design of strengthening £30,000
2008/09 Masonry repairs (provisional) £450,000
2008/09 Strengthening of concrete extensions (provisional) £600,000
Total £1,140,000

This report, refers to further investigations, which were carried out by Fugro Aperio using Video and Ground Penatrating Radar. This revealed that the records that showed the concealed arches had been filled in were incorrect, so the cracks were not settlement cracks as previously thought but structural cracks.

Fugro Aperio's summary.

A local retired Bridge Engineer has also carried out a visual inspection of the Bridge and believes that it has significant problems.

WCC are said to have £1M per financial year to spend on Bridges. This is not much when you consider the vast number of bridges in the County. The repairs to Fleet Bridge is due to take about £4.5M!

Emergency repairs have also been carried out to Ham & Easton Bridge and are currently being undertaken at Knightwick Bridge so the budget must be well in the red.

Could WCC be playing fast and loose with Tenbury and just hoping nothing too drastic happens, or perhaps hoping that the Bridge collapses and they get central government aid.

I can see that all Councils are in an impossible position, with the massive reduction in Central Government Grants and the desire the keep Council Tax bills as low as possible, but on the other hand, the loss of the Teme Bridge (or the long term closure) will do significant damage to the Towns prosperity. I don't hold with the view that any planning application should be denied purely on the grounds that it will increase the HGV traffic flow across the bridge, because the increase in percentage terms is insignificant, but the Truth about the state of the bridge does need to be revealed and appropriate action undertaken, even if this is one way working or a temporary weight restriction, which will be a major inconvenience, but nothing compared with the loss of the bridge.

Recent photographs published by the TesNo group seem to support the findings of the Bridge Report, rather than the recent statement.

TesNo's article.

Click on picture to enlarge. (Use your back button to return to blog)