PLANS to replace a temporary bridge near Ditton Priors have been put on hold after inspections showed a bridge near Shifnal required more urgent attention.
Winterburn bridge, which took three weeks and £30,000 to build in July 2009, was due to be knocked down next month with a permanent one put up in its place at a cost of £175,000. But with a restricted budget Shropshire Council officials have said the work will not be started before February 2011.
Money will instead be ploughed into a bridge over the Knowlbank Culvert, between the A464 and the M54, after an inspection showed the bridge’s walls had been damaged by the watercourse.
Journal farming correspondent Henry Yates, one of three people who own land near by the Winterburn Bridge, said it had been a “quite unexpected turn” adding the temporary structure was already fit for purpose.
John Williams, Shropshire Council’s team leader for structures, said: “Following the collapse of the old Winterburn Bridge in 2007, a temporary piped bridge was built to carry traffic until a new permanent bridge could be built.”