Completion of repair work on a landmark West Yorkshire viaduct has been delayed and the start of work on a nearby bridge has been ‘paused’ after both projects proved more complex than anticipated.
Last April, National Highways began work on the concrete Wentbridge Viaduct, which carries the A1 over the River Went, involving waterproofing and resurfacing and replacement of road markings and studs.
It was then due to move on to the nearby Wentedge Road Bridge, replacing the central pier, along with the parapets, joints, and surfacing.
At the time it said work on the viaduct was expected to complete last autumn, with the Wentedge Road Bridge scheme earmarked for completion in early 2024. The same contraflow traffic management was put in place for both schemes.
However, National Highways announced this week that closer inspection of the southbound carriageway of the viaduct had uncovered ‘a number of issues’ - once layers of surfacing and waterproofing had been removed.
Work on the structure is now expected to finish in the summer, with the scheme set to switch from the southbound carriageway to the northbound next month.
The A1 in this area will then be fully re-opened while the national roads operator creates a new programme of works for the Wentedge Road Bridge for 2026.
Project manager John Stebbing said the issues included ‘the need to repair sections of reinforced concrete, as well as manhole cover plates, the maintenance walkway anchor points under the bridge and safety barrier foundations’.
He added: ‘One of the challenges of only being able to inspect once you’re on site is that it then takes time to design, check and approve the engineering solutions to rectify the issues identified, causing delays to the overall project.’
The company added that on Wentedge Road Bridge, which sits south of the viaduct, repairs have already been carried out to the concrete abutments, with a concrete pour carried out on the east abutment in December.
Mr Stebbing said: ‘Wentedge Bridge, which is of a similar age to the viaduct, has posed a different set of engineering challenges. Although we are progressing concrete repairs and still working on design solutions, we’ve taken the decision to defer the major repair work on this bridge.
‘This will allow us to work behind the scenes to design a new central pier as well as ensure we have the right engineering solutions in place for the structure. Once all the designs have been completed and approved, we will then return to carry out the work at Wentedge Road Bridge. We currently anticipate this to happen in summer 2026.’
He told Highways: ‘The pier replacement is still a viable option. The problems we’ve encountered have resulted in elements of the propping to be re-designed, together with the methodology of pier construction.’
Mr Stebbing said the contraflow was always necessary to complete the work on the viaduct and that removing it while the re-design of the bridge pier replacement is completed would avoid prolonging it unnecessarily.
National Highways has described the Grade II listed Wentbridge Viaduct, which opened to traffic in 1961, as an internationally renowned structure.
