Councils told to reverse drop in scour assessments

摘要

Key figures in the sector have highlighted a 'worrying' decline in in the number of road bridges being assessed for scour damage, despite an increase in severe weather events due to climate change and more structures being deemed substandard. According to the latest survey by the RAC Foundation, in collaboration with council directors' body ADEPT, 3,105 bridges - structures over 1.5m in span - were identified as 'substandard' by local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. This is a 1.6% increase on last year's figure of 3,055. Councils also reported that, at the time they responded in autumn 2020,10 bridges across Great Britain had fully collapsed in the previous 12 months. A further 30 had partially collapsed.