DOZENS of bridges across Wiltshire have been listed as substandard and five bridges in the Salisbury area are listed the same.  

According to the RAC Foundation, of the 975 bridges across the county, 36 were listed as substandard in 2022.

This means that the bridges will be too weak to carry 40-tonne vehicles or there may be weight restrictions due to narrow approach roads or narrow bridges.

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Director of the RAC Foundation, Steve Gooding said: "The numbers illustrate how important it is for significant sums of money to be spent tackling at least the higher priority work.

"Whether it is potholes or bridges there is only so long that councils can continue to patch things up before bigger cracks literally start to appear in the road network."

Figures confirm no collapsed bridges across Great Britain in 2022, but 14 partial collapses did occur. 

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Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Caroline Thomas, said: “Since the bridge assessment programme began during the mid-1990s, Wiltshire Council has completed works to bring over 190 bridges up to standard across our network.

“Within the Salisbury area, there remain five substandard bridges. These bridges will be prioritised for work within our ongoing strengthening and replacement programme.”

She added: “In the meantime, the bridges are regularly inspected to ensure their condition does not pose a safety risk.”

The Department for Transport has said that there will be £5bn of investment to local authorities to support the maintenance of highway infrastructure, repair of bridges and road resurfacing up and down the country. It is likely to cost £12 bn to restore all bridges to a satisfactory level.