A specialised team of bridge and highways experts from North Yorkshire Council will work through the night tonight to resolve ongoing mechanical issues preventing the historic Whitby Swing Bridge from closing properly.
The urgent engineering project requires a full road closure on-site from 6:00 PM tonight (Tuesday 30th June) until 2:00 AM tomorrow (Wednesday 1st July).
While the bridge remains open to pedestrians and vehicles in the interim, this latest maintenance push follows a series of recent emergency closures. These safety measures were put in place to protect the public because the two structural sides of the bridge have failed to lock flush as they are designed to do.
North Yorkshire Council’s Assistant Director for Highways and Infrastructure, Barrie Mason, said: “We fully appreciate the impact this issue is having on the town, its residents, businesses and visitors and we will do everything we can to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.
“The structure is inspected every three months, but for this particular programme we will be looking for and removing any build-up of corrosion on the deck ends. Normally, the function of the swing bridge’s own opening and closing would naturally remove any rust building up as the two sides move. The extremes of heat we have seen may well have impacted on this, so we will be looking for any signs of that.”
To keep the town connected during the closure, a dedicated shuttle bus service will operate between the east and west sides from 6:00 PM until midnight tonight.
Council representatives have warned that some structural noise is to be expected throughout the evening. Furthermore, engineers noted there could be a minor delay to the 6:00 PM start time if the internal metal temperature of the bridge remains too high for safe manipulation.
Looking forward, the council is planning to install light-coloured, high-friction surfacing across the deck as a proactive measure to deflect sunlight and significantly reduce future heat build-up.
Originally constructed in 1908, the landmark 75-foot swing bridge links the upper and lower harbour areas, acting as the primary artery connecting the east and west sides of Whitby.
