Crowther Bridge

TUESDAY

I was supposed to be working from home today, but a 7:00 am faulty fire alarm and a 999 visit by the Fire and Rescue Service meant I had to head out to one of buildings I look after in order to investigate the circumstances.

On my way home I stopped off at Cromwell Bottom. By chance the newly rebuilt Crowther Bridge (pictured) re-opened today. The previous bridge was destroyed by a boat during the 2015 Boxing Day floods.

The new bridge, which provides access to the Nature Reserve, has a a design “life” of 120 years. It's supposed to resemble the old bridge as much as possible, but has piled foundations and a concrete core to make the structure more flood resilient.

Local natural stone has been used to face the bridge and the arch “voussoir” stones have been reused from nearby Elland Bridge which was damaged at the same time and reopened earlier this year.