Nether Bridge in Kendal will be closed to traffic as an attempted is made to recover stonework knocked into the river.

The closure on Monday, June 22, is necessary to recover heritage stonework which was knocked from the parapet into the watercourse as a result of an incident early on Wednesday, June 17.

It is hoped that the recovered stone can be reused in the repair where possible. 

Due to the nature of the work, and the need to position a truck-mounted crane on the road for lifting operations, a full road closure will be required. Traffic will therefore be diverted via Romney Bridge and Milnthorpe Road, with appropriate signage in place to prevent HGVs from using Parkside Road due to the low bridge restriction. 

To minimise disruption, the closure will be implemented from 9.30am to avoid peak travel times and school drop-off.

The bridge will remain open for pedestrians and cyclists throughout. 

It is expected that the work should be completed and the bridge open again no later than 2pm (14:00).

Councillor Peter Thornton, Cabinet Member for Highways and ICT, said: “The team, starting with the out of hours crew who were called out to the incident, pulled out all the stops to make safe, assess the structure, place the concrete barriers and open the road that same morning.

“It is important that the stonework is recovered from the watercourse as soon as possible and I am pleased we have been able to work with the relevant statutory environmental bodies to make this happen so soon.

“There will be some disruption, but we aim to keep that to a minimum and I am sure that people will understand the need to carry out this work so this important part of Kendal’s heritage can be repaired properly and appropriately.”

The bridge is a Scheduled Ancient Monument spanning the River Kent, which has both Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation environmental designations. 

Approximately 10 metres of the parapet wall has been displaced. It is too early at this stage to say when a permanent repair will be undertaken, but it will be a number of months as it will require the appointment of a contractor experienced in such high-profile heritage work, and (depending on the required access measures) Environment Agency consent and Natural England Assent.