Temporary bridge on A39 to be removed during one-day road closure
Somerset traffic diversion will be in place for 24 hours while engineers remove structure.
Two of 4 new culverts installed under the A39 in Cannington to reduce flood risk
The A39 in Cannington, Somerset, will be closed for roadworks while the Environment Agency removes a temporary bridge.
The bridge allowed engineers from Team Van Oord to create a flood alleviation channel beneath the road to improve the flood defence of around 200 homes in Cannington.
To remove the bridge, the A39 will be closed for 24 hours at that location. The closure takes effect 7pm on Saturday 8 October. A diversion route will be in place.
Dan Boswell, project manager, of the Environment Agency, said:
We are very grateful to residents of Cannington and commuters in the area who have been very patient with the roadworks.
The use of a temporary bridge to keep traffic flowing without need for traffic lights or road closures, which would otherwise have been in place for months, was a great innovation.
Now we are at the stage where the bridge needs to be removed and we will use overnight on the weekend to minimise inconvenience. We ask for residents’ and commuters’ patience one last time while this goes ahead.
Flood defence work began in April and is due to be finished in the early new year. The completion of the defence scheme will mean the standard of flood protection is greatly improved for homes and businesses in the village to at least a 100 year standard. This means only a 1% chance of flood happening in any year.
The village itself has a long history of flooding from the Cannington Brook. In November 2012, more than 40 properties were flooded twice within a matter of days.
In 1984, a small flood alleviation channel was built to reduce flows through the centre of the village. However investigations have shown that the channel will not be sufficient to deal with current and future flood flows.