Bridges and retaining walls

Bridges

Many of these structures are in some of the most beautiful scenery in Britain, calling for design and materials which blend with the environment.

Other major bridge owners in the county are:

• Highways Agency - bridges on trunk roads and motorways.
• Network Rail - bridges under/over live railway lines.
• Network Rail Railway Estates - bridges under/over disused railway lines.
• British Waterways - bridges under/over canals.      

Other bridges may be boundary bridges (maintained by adjoining Local Authorities), privately owned bridges or jointly owned bridges.

Bridges are best identified by the name of the road they are located on and the obstruction (such as the River Derwent) they cross.

All bridges are being assessed to check that they are capable of carrying the heavier 40 tonne lorries that use the roads today.

Inspection and maintenance of these structures is important for all transport around Derbyshire. Priority for strengthening works on structures is based upon considerations of safety, weight restrictions, the hierarchy of the route, effects on local people and the effects of diverted traffic on the local environment, industry and the local economy.

Bridges are inspected as part of an ongoing programme. It is our aim to carry out General Inspections on a two-year cycle. General Inspections are visual inspections only.

A more detailed inspection known as a Principal Inspection is carried out every six years. This requires a close examination of all inspectable parts of a structure using access scaffolds, ladders or hoists.

Both types of inspection can instigate minor remedial works to structures, which are funded from the council's maintenance budget or can result in major maintenance works or sometimes rebuilding of a structure.

Funding for the more major works is obtained from Central Government by means of the Local Transport Plan.

Highway retaining walls

In addition to our bridges we are also responsible for maintaining many miles of retaining walls supporting the highway network in Derbyshire.

Ownership of such walls is sometimes unclear and each structure has to be checked individually. There are many retaining walls within Derbyshire that are not yet on the council's records.

Contact:

• Call Derbyshire on 08 456 058 058  

• email: call.centre@derbyshire.gov.uk

• or fill in our online fault reporting form

If you have your enquiry number, issued by the online fault reporting system, you can track progress on our online tracking form.