Major bridge repair works will mean overnight road closures

Progress has been made on a programme of upgrades, maintenance and repairs for two bridges on the A1 in West Yorkshire.

Engineering works – including structural improvements, resurfacing and renewal – are currently ongoing at Wentbridge Viaduct and Wentedge Road Bridge.

Work has been under way on the viaduct, a Grade II listed structure which carries the A1 over the River Went, since February last year.

The project is set to switch from the southbound carriageway to the northbound next month, with work on the viaduct expected to finish in summer 2024.

The A1 in this area will then be fully reopened while National Highways draws up a new programme of works for the nearby Wentedge Road Bridge for 2026.

Improvements began on Wentbridge Viaduct when National Highways began renewing the waterproofing and surfacing.

Once the layers of surfacing and waterproofing had been removed, engineers were able to carry out inspections on the southbound carriageway of the viaduct – which uncovered a number of issues.

National Highways project manager, John Stebbing, said: “They 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.

“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.

“However, the work to repair these issues is now complete and we’ve started the waterproofing and resurfacing on the southbound carriageway.

“Once finished, we’ll switch the contraflow over before starting work on the northbound carriageway.

“To minimise any further impact on drivers, once work has been completed on the A1 northbound at Wentbridge Viaduct, the A1 is due to fully reopen by the end of this summer.”

At Wentedge Road Bridge, to the south of the viaduct, a scheme of work includes replacing the central pier or ‘leg’, joints and waterproofing.

Initially, this was planned to be take place at the same time as the Wentbridge Viaduct improvements.

Repairs have already been carried out to the concrete abutments with a concrete pour carried out on the east abutment in December.

However, 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.

“We stress the temporary pause will not, in any way, affect the safety of Wentedge Road Bridge for road users.”