Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of damage to (a) local roads and (b) the strategic road network caused by recent flooding; and from which cost heading funding for (i) already identified and (ii) anticipated repairs is to be found.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced funding of £40 million for Cumbria and Lancashire following Storms Desmond and Eva. We also agreed to help fund the assessment of damage to local highway infrastructure in both areas. In addition, the Department also announced £3.3 million to provide a temporary footbridge and the repair of Tadcaster Bridge in North Yorkshire and a further £5.5 million to rebuild Elland Bridge in Calderdale which includes providing a temporary pedestrian footbridge whilst these works are underway.
The Department is also working closely with all local highway authorities affected by the floods to see what further support and assistance can be provided as they complete their assessments of damage.
Two sections of road on the strategic road network have been damaged by the recent flooding. The river bank was washed out on both sides at Warwick Bridge on the A69 near Carlisle. This will be repaired, as agreed with the Environment Agency (EA), using gabion baskets at an estimated cost of £60,000. The cost of the repairs will be met by the DBFO Company who maintains this stretch of road.
A 1.5 mile section of the westbound dual carriageway at Bassenthwaite Lake on the A66 in Cumbria is currently closed due to the recent storms. As a consequence of the westbound closure, the two lane eastbound carriageway is being used with one lane open for eastbound traffic and one for westbound traffic. The repair costs will be dependent on the findings of a recent geotechnical survey. However the provisional cost estimate for reopening this section of the network is between £3m and £5m.
The rest of the strategic road network in the North West region has now been returned to a fully serviceable condition. This has involved the clearance and inspection of all affected culverts and the removal of a significant amount of detritus off sections of the network that witnessed flooding. This included the removal of material off the carriageway following two minor earth slips on the A66 in the vicinity of Warcop. The cost of clearing the affected network in the North West region is estimated at £275,000.
Inspections of bridge structures and other assets across the North West region have revealed scour (erosion of soil) related issues and other damage at a number of locations, with further inspections currently underway. Remedial works on the A66 at Eden Bridge near Temple Sowerby are estimated at £125,000. Additionally, the Environment Agency has contacted Highways England about a section of scour/land slip adjacent to the River Greta east of Briery interchange. An inspection has been arranged to determine the proximity and potential risk to the A66 at this location.
The funding for repairs to the strategic road network is being met via an additional £8m for storm damage provided by DfT.
