Getting the ‘hump’ as county’s historic bridges suffer more collision damage

We're calling on drivers to take more care and protect these iconic bridges.

Unfortunately, the Lancaster Canal has seen the most bridge strikes across the whole of the Trust’s 2,000 miles of waterways. Over the last two years the charity has paid out over £500,000 to repair more than 10 bridges along the 41 miles of canal, many of which are Grade II Listed.

It’s the second time Stone Chimney Bridge on the Lancaster Canal has been damaged this year, with the crash happening just weeks after repairs were completed and the bridge reopened following an earlier strike by an HGV. Since January, four bridges have been hit by vehicles causing extensive damage and inconvenience to boaters and residents in Carnforth, Forton and Woodplumpton.

Vital conservation work

Bill Froggatt, our heritage advisor, said: “Humpback bridges such as these are an iconic part of Britain’s canal network. However, due to the large number of rural, narrow roads crossing the Lancaster Canal, its bridges suffer more collisions than anywhere else in the country.

“This latest strike on Stone Chimney Bridge has caused significant structural damage to the masonry, which will once again require vital conservation and repair work. All these bridges are part of the canal’s special character and heritage, and each time one is hit a small piece of history is lost.”

Slow down and take more care

We look after around 2,800 historic canal bridges in England and Wales. 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.

Every year vehicle strikes cost us over £1 million, diverting vital funds away from work to conserve the nation’s waterways, with many incidents going unreported. And the repeated collisions have prompted us to call on motorists to slow down and take extra care when driving over the region’s historic canals.

Bill added: “We desperately need motorists to slow down and take more care. If everyone driving over these bridges took things slower, and paid more attention, then we could save these priceless pieces of our canal history from being badly damaged, as well as saving a lot of inconvenience to boaters and local communities and cost to our charity.”

Contractors are currently working to repair Ratcliffe Bridge 75 near Forton and will start at Stone Chimney Bridge 31, in Woodplumpton, early in the new year, and navigation and the towpath are still open.