{"id":71119,"date":"2026-08-27T17:11:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=71119"},"modified":"2026-08-27T17:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:45:10","slug":"temporary-lane-closure-will-remain-place-while-essential-safety-work-planned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/temporary-lane-closure-will-remain-place-while-essential-safety-work-planned\/","title":{"rendered":"Temporary lane closure will remain in place while essential safety work is planned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A lane closure on Bridge Road&#8217;s bascule bridge in Exeter will remain in place while engineers prepare essential repairs to the structure beneath the bridge deck.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further investigations by Devon County Council have identified additional cracks in the bridge&#8217;s aluminium deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Bascule Bridge, Bridge Road, Exeter\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/Mg8VRwLFCL0?feature=oembed&#038;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Engineers are now developing a repair programme aimed at keeping the bridge open and avoiding more significant disruption in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simon Hill, the council\u2019s Group Engineer, said the issue cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Underneath the bridge at the moment we have got what they call galvanic corrosion, which is when two different metals actually touch each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUnfortunately, this is an inherent part of the design from the 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We&#8217;ve basically got an aluminium deck that is starting to corrode and break up and is no longer supported underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you leave it any longer without any further support or remedial work, then eventually the deck will start to bow and give, and then we would have to close the whole bridge, rather than an isolated lane as we&#8217;ve done at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We are investigating and will carry out some further testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have found further cracks in the aluminium decking, which we are concerned about, which is why we didn&#8217;t take the lane closure off as planned last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we&#8217;re doing now is identifying some remedial actions that will hopefully allow us to open the bridge in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think we&#8217;re probably looking at a full week of work, but unfortunately nobody will see that happening because it will all be underneath the bridge deck.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The council says it understands people\u2019s frustration about the lane closure on one of the city\u2019s busiest roads, but trained engineers have advised that the deterioration now being seen within the bridge structure must be addressed to prevent more serious problems developing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe want to reassure the public that although they may not see activity as they\u2019re crossing the bridge, work is underway, largely out of site below the bridge deck, and we are committed to getting the bridge fully open again as soon as possible,\u201d added Simon Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2026\/08\/Resizing-pics-for-News-Centre-87-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71124\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2026\/08\/Resizing-pics-for-News-Centre-87-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2026\/08\/Resizing-pics-for-News-Centre-87-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2026\/08\/Resizing-pics-for-News-Centre-87-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2026\/08\/Resizing-pics-for-News-Centre-87-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2026\/08\/Resizing-pics-for-News-Centre-87-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2026\/08\/Resizing-pics-for-News-Centre-87.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":71120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[986],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-roads-and-transport","post_format-post-format-video"],"acf":[],"featured_image":{"ID":71120,"title":"Investigation under the bascule bridge, Bridge Road, Exeter","alt":"Engineers from the council's bridge team investigate under the bascule bridge, Bridge Road, 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