The listed White Bridge in the Welsh Valleys town of Pontypridd is scheduled to reopen in the coming months, but won’t be fully repaired until 2022.

The bridge, officially called the Berw Road Bridge was severely damaged in Storm Dennis last February and has been shut ever since.

Because the structure is Listed, the local Council needed to get the required consent for any repairs, while the scheme is further complicated by the presence of a gas main providing a major supply through a pipe on the bridge.

This repair work requires a number of permissions including consent in relation to Listed buildings and flood risk, while an otter survey must also be carried out. Activity within the river is subject to restrictions during the autumn and winter months.

Rhondda Cynon Taff Council has now confirmed it is working towards a two-phase repair scheme. The current plan is for initial scour repairs to be undertaken in the coming months. Proposals are being prepared for a specialist contractor to carry out this work, anticipated to last up to two months.

Subject to an inspection upon completion of the scour repairs, the bridge could open to traffic with loading limitations sometime in the summer when work could begin on a full refurbishment and repair project during spring or summer 2022. That is, though, subject to all of the relevant permissions being obtained – including further Listed Building consent. The work would require the bridge’s temporary closure.

(Picture – Rhondda Cynon Taff Council)