Engineers investigating bridge after it gets ‘stuck open’
The bridge became 'stuck open' at 9.30am. Photo: Sammy-Jo Davies - Credit: Archant
Engineers are investigating why a busy coastal bridge became “stuck open” - causing long traffic tailbacks among frustrated drivers.
Traffic was flowing freely over the bridge around an hour after the fault. Photo: Sammy-Jo Davies - Credit: Archant
On November 19, Highways England received reports at 9.30am that Breydon Bridge in Great Yarmouth had “failed to lower”.
In a statement, Highways England’s head of planning and development, Simon Amor, said: “We can confirm that a fault was reported at 9:30am yesterday morning when the bridge failed to lower on command.
“Engineers were called immediately when the bridge failed to close. It remained open for 32 minutes.
“Engineers are on site today to investigate the fault.
The bridge in action. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
“This work is taking place in the engine room so there is no need for us to close the bridge.
“When this work is completed a test lift will be carried out, although this will not be today.”
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Sammy-Jo Davies, who runs a cleaning business and uses the bridge frequently, was one of the drivers to get caught up in the traffic.
She warned other road users “the bridge was stuck” via a Facebook post.
She said: “We got stuck behind it at 9.30am for about 25 minutes. Not long after that, people behind us started to turn around and use the Haven Bridge route instead.
“You could see there were no boats waiting to pass under it, so after a little while we worked out it must have been a fault and turned around ourselves.”
