Helen Rowe, interim head of highways (assets) at Kent County Council and chair of ADEPT's National Bridges Group, reflects on the Government's Structures Fund, which was launched this week.

When the Department for Transport first announced the Structures Fund in summer 2025, it was a significant moment for those of us working in highway structures. For many years, there has been a growing recognition across the sector that the condition of our bridge stock presents an increasingly complex set of challenges. The announcement signalled that this was now firmly on the national agenda.

At that stage, the detail was limited, with the definition of what constituted a ‘broken bridge' and the practicalities of how the fund would operate unclear. 

ADEPT's National Bridges Group engaged early with DfT to help shape something that would be both realistic and usable for local authorities.

What has been encouraging is the extent to which that dialogue has influenced the development of the fund. It has evolved considerably and while it is not perfect, it is undoubtedly more aligned with the realities that local authorities are facing. The ability to bring ‘packages' of works to the fund, rather than just single schemes, reflects that reality and allows authorities to address issues more effectively across their networks.

The Structures Fund also reflects a growing awareness of the sector's skills gap. Many authorities lack the expertise to deliver complex structures projects. A technical advisory board could help ensure they aren't excluded simply due to limited in-house resources.

The fund does not exist in isolation from the wider pressures we face and timescales for delivery remain a significant concern. Delivering complex structures schemes on existing networks, often involving multiple stakeholders, is inherently challenging and setting overly ambitious delivery deadlines brings substantial risks.

We also need to be realistic about the scale of the challenge. Even with significant investment, this fund only begins to scratch the surface of the backlog of maintenance that exists across the country.

A broader issue concerns how we understand and measure the condition of our structures. The RAC Foundation/ADEPT bridge survey last reported in 2024 and looks unlikely to continue after longstanding concerns about data consistency and comparability. This leaves a gap in how we build a national picture of local authority structures. For me, this presents a potential opportunity to incorporate questions from the survey into the DfT's RAG ratings, which are already evolving after feedback earlier this year, moving beyond the current narrow focus to reflect the condition of the whole network. Structures, drainage and carriageways are interdependent and cannot be considered in isolation if we are to understand performance properly.

We also need wider recognition of the funding imbalance in our networks. Local highway networks carry the majority of journeys and support a wide range of essential services, yet funding per km and per user is significantly lower than on strategic and rail networks.

The Structures Fund is a positive step showing constructive engagement between DfT and the sector, but it should be part of a wider shift in how we value our infrastructure.

The one message I would emphasise is that structures are critical nodes within the system. If one of those nodes fails, the impact is immediate and far-reaching. Diversions can be extensive, journeys disrupted and communities directly affected. These are not assets that can be quickly or easily replaced. They must be understood as integral parts of a complex, interconnected system. Their value lies not just in their individual function, but in the role that they play in enabling the entire network.

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