Victoria Bridge and Gooseholme Bridge on the River Kent

Stanchions mark the site where Gooseholme Bridge formerly stood

Gooseholme Bridge is gone. The base of three piers shows where it stood.   After consultation with the public a new bridge will be constructed.  Flood risk to residents is an important consideration in its design.
Further upstream, work continues on Victoria Bridge.   The steel piles which protected workmen from the flow of the river are being taken up.   Work isn't complete but must cease at the end of September.  

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Victoria Bridge is an important crossing point and ensuring minimal disruption to traffic-flow is a constraint the Story engineers must work with.  The River Kent is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and work is only permitted from  15 July until the end of September.  The fish breeding season begins at that date.  White clawed crayfish is an important conservation species and salmon travel up the river to breed.   Disturbing silt is an important consideration and downstream of Victoria Bridge a barrage has been constructed.
Cranes access the bridge from a ramp which leads from the eastern bank down into the river and to the bridge.  The ramp must be robust to take the weight of cranes and the loads they lift , to ensure the cranes are stable.   

Before work could begin on Victoria Bridge and on Gooseholme Bridge  the engineers, Story, had to submit their proposals to the Environment Agency.  There were constraints in place to protect the environment, the ecology of the river.   Talking to the workmen, they tell me they can only work outside the fish-breeding season.  Hopefully,  the goosander had bred and juveniles were strong enough to cope with disturbance to their river habitat by 15 July.