We look after 377 bridges and related structures in Warrington, including:
- 221 road bridges
- 93 park bridges
- 18 subways
- 33 culverts (wider than 1.5m)
- 12 highway retaining walls (more than 1.5m high)
There are some bridges which we’re not responsible for:
- The swing bridges over the Manchester Ship Canal are owned by Peel Ports
- Most railway bridges are owned by Network Rail
- Bridges over the Bridgewater Canal are owned by the Peel Group
Bridge inspections and strength assessments
We go out and visually inspect our bridges at least every two years. We carry out more detailed inspections, called ‘principal inspections’, every six to 18 years.
We also sometimes ask specialist contractors to inspect bridges to make sure we have reliable and accurate data about their condition.
We also check the strength of our bridges continuously by testing and repairing the concrete, waterproofing, upgrading parapets and carrying out other structural works.
We use the information from the inspections and strength assessments to plan and prioritise improvement works to keep our bridges safe and strong. We carry out maintenance on about 10 per cent of our bridges every year, and we try to include it within other planned roadworks so that we don’t have to disrupt traffic again.