Project Overview

Described as “the “Jewel-in-the-Crown” of Cumbria’s Infrastructure Recovery Programme, and the “Peoples’ Bridge”, the new Pooley Bridge is the UK’s first stainless-steel roadbridge.

A £7.6M replacement for a beloved listed stone 1764 Lake-District packhorse-bridge destroyed by Storm Desmond, December 2015. The structure was one of 784-bridges damaged/destroyed, creating a 16km detour. The river divides the village, the main access blocked to the south/west, with its facilities on the east-bank. Cumbria wanted a future-proof bridge flood resilient, complying with EA regulations with a clear span and meeting villager’s wishes for an iconic crossing to replace the eponymous structure. The constrained site between mountain, riverside and village centre, access down narrow Cumbrian lanes demanded an offsite construction solution with the bridge arriving as four skeletons to be assembled in the village carpark by the River Eamont. It was lifted whole by one of the UK’s largest mobile cranes.

The result a unique, slender, 40m single-span arch with a top-tie, a composite structure, with reinforced concrete deck and arch, connected to duplex stainless-steel structure. The bridge compliments the Lake District NP UNESCO World Heritage site.