We're once again required to carry out urgent repairs to a historic canal bridge near Dimmingsdale, Wolverhampton, following an astonishing fifth vehicle strike in 14 years.
The latest damage to the heritage bridge, located on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal between Dimmingsdale Lock and Wightwick Lock, will require repair work estimated at £80,000 after the parapet was badly damaged.
Repeated collisions have taken a serious toll on the bridge’s original masonry, prompting us to call on motorists to slow down and take extra care when driving over the region’s historic canals.
Significant structural damage
Paul Ardill, senior project manager, said: “The region’s canals are a national treasure; part of our shared heritage. Every time a bridge is stuck by a passing vehicle, it chips away a piece of heritage that we can never fully replace. This latest strike has caused significant structural damage to the bridge’s masonry, prompting urgent conservation and repair work which will take weeks to complete.”
The bridge is one of around 2,800 historic canal bridges that we maintain. Most were built in the 18th and 19th centuries, long before the advent of modern vehicles, making them vulnerable to strikes by wide or speeding traffic.
Priceless pieces of canal history
We're urging all road users to observe signage, reduce speed and take extra care when approaching hump-backed or narrow canal bridges.
Paul continues “Vehicle strikes cost us, a charity, over £1 million per year with many incidents going unreported. On this occasion we do have the drivers’ details so we can claim some of our costs back from their insurance company but often our bridges are damaged in hit and run incidents leaving us to pay the repair bill.
“If everyone driving over these bridges took things slower, we could save our priceless pieces of our canal history from being badly damaged.”
The road, canal and towpath are currently closed whilst debris is removed, and the bridge is made safe.
