Restoration & Repair of Grade 2 Listed Bridge

Ribchester Bridge, Lancashire

Ribchester Bridge is a Grade II listed Georgian structure in Lancashire, thought to be built in 1774. It is situated on the B6245 road from Longridge to Wilpshire across the River Ribble, around two miles upstream from the Roman Town of Ribchester. The bridge is made from sandstone and ashlar and has three segmental circular arches. These arches have single rings of voussoirs and coursed masonry spandrels. Overall, the length of the bridge is 72 meters and spans the parishes of Clayton-le-Dale and Dutton.

Traffic Management

Recently, the bridge was severely damaged as a result of crash and needed urgent restoration. Due to the nature of proposed activity we had to establish traffic management procedures to the area. With the popular B6245 road running across the bridge, it was considered too dangerous to have flowing traffic while work took place. These traffic lights remained in place throughout the works, allowing a safe working environment. A temporary concrete crash barrier was also situated on site for the duration.

Bridge Restoration

We began with the deconstruction of the damaged sections of the bridge, taking great care not to damage any weakened stones. To ensure this, we separated the existing stone members by removing mortar jointing material. We were then able to begin reconstruction and we assembled existing stone members on new mortar bed. Finally, we positioned the stones to ensure the radius profile was maintained to existing specification. On completion of the re-construction of stone members, new reproduced stone copings were assembled and bedded. The area was then re-pointed in lime mortar.

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