A bridge in West Sussex has been transformed following a £580,000 investment to boost its ‘green’ credentials.
West Sussex County Council put the money into improving the Wineham Lane bridge in Wineham to improve its safety features, as well as become more environmentally friendly, Mid Sussex Times reported.
Speaking to the news provider, county council member for Highways and Infrastructure Bob Lanzer said: “The project has combined safety improvements with ‘green engineering’ to ensure the new bridge is in-keeping with the rural setting.”
As well as extending the 40mph speed limit to cover the bridge and introducing a hardened verge for the safety of pedestrians, several ‘green’ features have been added when structural repair was undertaken.
These include building wildlife ‘shelves’ to enable animals to cross underneath; creating a ‘grasscrete’ verge that allows grass to grow through; replacing old concrete side walls and railings of the embankment with earth embankments; and substituting old metal railings with sustainable timber fences.
It is not just road bridges that require maintenance and structural improvements, as an historic bridge in Yorkshire has also undergone major restoration work to enable it to look as good as it once did.
The 18th Century Palladian Bridge at Scampston Hall was closed to the public while its pillars were sanded down and dismantled, repaired and repainted. Its roof was also repaired and re-leaded, in addition to its back wall being repointed and repainted, York Press revealed.
As well as this, its lead decorations were reworked and an old plunge pool was cleaned out and finished.