Contractors returning to repair new Spalding footbridge

Repairs are going to be made to a footbridge - months after it was opened.

Walkers have reported damaged surfacing to the new steel Two Plank Bridge in Spalding.

The bridge, which weighs 16-tonnes, was installed as part of the construction work of the first phase of the mothballed Spalding Western Relief Road and was promised to be more hard wearing than the previous wooden structure.

But contractors will be returning to the bridge to repair the damage.

Karen Cassar, assistant director for highways, said: "Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens when surfacing is laid in the winter months.

“As a result, the contractor will be repairing the chipped footway in the coming months at their own expense, in addition to sorting the issue of surface water not draining on the footway."

Two Plank Bridge,which was officially opened in December, is a well-used pedestrian link - including by many school children - between Spalding and Pinchbeck.

It was greatly missed when it was closed for about 18 months as part of the work to construct the northern section of the relief road.

This section of the project - which cost nearly £50million to complete - included the new Spalding Road roundabout along with the bridge over the railway line but has been branded a ‘white elephant’.

But vehicles are unlikely to be travelling along the road as there are no plans to start the southern section until at least 2030 and funding has not been secured for the middle.