Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 27 October 2011.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the need for repair and maintenance to bridges that cross inland waterways managed by British Waterways which carry highways that are the responsibility of (a) the Highways Agency and (b) other highway authorities; and what estimate she has made of the cost of such works in each case.
The bridges that are the responsibility of the Highways Agency and cross inland waterways managed by British Waterways are subject to a regular regime of structural inspections. General inspections are carried out every two years and more detailed principal inspections are undertaken every six years. These inspections record the condition of the bridges, identifying the extent and severity of any defects in the structural components. Where the defects are significant, plans for remedial maintenance works are developed, and where they are of sufficient priority, funding is allocated and repairs undertaken by the Highways Agency's Maintenance Agents. There are no separate available estimates of maintenance costs for canal and river bridges.
Neither the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs nor the Department for Transport retains information centrally in relation to the ownership or maintenance of local highway authority bridges that cross inland waterways managed by British Waterways. This information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
British Waterways stringently monitors the asset condition of its structures, including bridges, and applies a risk-based prioritisation of repair and renewal expenditure. It estimates that the annual cost of maintenance and repairs to keep its bridges at a steady state would be £3.3 million in England and Wales.
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