§ 19. Mr. Duffyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to report on surveys so far carried out to establish the safety of box girder bridges; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Graham PageDesign appraisals have been completed on 35 of the traffic restricted steel box girder bridges. Six of these have been strengthened to comply with the Merrison rules and together with a further 20 shown to comply have been freed from restriction. Strengthening of the other nine is in progress or due to start shortly. Appraisals of the remaining 16 restricted bridges are not yet complete.
§ Mr. DuffyIs the hon. Gentleman aware that research at Imperial College suggests that the surveys so far carried out to establish the safety of box girder bridges are largely a waste of time and that the research is providing answers different from the textbooks assumptions? Does he not think that the strengthening of the important and complex structure that is Tinsley Viaduct—which has yet to be determined, much less to be carried out—must be called into question by those findings at Imperial College?
§ Mr. PageNo. An article in The Guardian threw a question on the Merrison rules. It was Imperial College which immediately came out with a statement in support of the Merrison rules and said that it was right we should apply them.
§ Mr. Robert CookeIs my hon. Friend aware that the result of these delays is that a vital motorway bridge has not been built in Bristol, with the result that traffic has to be re-routed over the Clifton Suspension Bridge leading to massive 418 traffic jams stretching back into Bristol, West? Will he consider the possibility of a temporary grant to the trustees of the bridge so they can remove the tolls and thus facilitate the flow of traffic during peak holiday periods for this summer only?
§ Mr. PageI will certainly look into this. What my hon. Friend calls delay is proper caution over the possibility of unstrengthened bridges.