Good news at last - Cefn Bridge to reopen today

There’s good news this morning that work on the A458 Cefn Bridge at Trewern will finish today.

Welsh Government Economy and Transpor Minister Ken Skates made the announcement in a letter to Montgomeryshire AM Russell George.

And that’s great news for the area with traffic set to multiply this weekend at the start of the school holiday period.

Mr Skates wrote to Mr George saying: “I can confirm that the works to repair the recent damage, caused to the west parapet, of Cefn Bridge were completed on June 22. 

“However during these works, defects were also identified on the opposite (east) parapet. They include a cracked weld in one of the posts and split material in the top section of four separate rails, with the potential to compromise the structural integrity and containment level provided by the parapet.

“Unfortunately these defects had not been identified previously, with focus being on the western parapet, but the recent works allowed the contractors to investigate the entire bridge. 

“Due to the concerns surrounding the integrity of the parapet, a decision was taken to switch the temporary traffic management arrangements over to the opposite lane of the A458 as an interim protection measure.

“Dialogue is currently on-going with both specialist contractors and Network Rail to complete the additional repairs by July 18. This is with a view of returning the trunk road to being fully operational by the start of the summer holiday period.”