§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the cost is of strengthening the Avonmouth Bridge to comply with EC loading standards; what the total cost is of bridge strengthening work in the United Kingdom in order to comply with the EC directive allowing 40 tonne lorries; and how much of this cost has been met from public funds. [60267]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonThe current expected cost of the strengthening of the M5 Avonmouth Bridge is about £88 million.
A total cost for bridge strengthening work in the UK is not available, but in England, the total funds available to local authorities for bridge maintenance assessment and strengthening on their roads between 1 April 1992 and 31 March 1998 was £915 million. This figure does not distinguish between strengthening and maintenance needed to carry 40 tonne vehicles or 11.5 tonne axles and that needed to restore bridges' capacity to carry present vehicle traffic.
In Wales it is for individual local authorities to determine the level of resources to allocate to their assessment and strengthening programmes from annual settlements which are not attributed to particular services.
On all other roads in the UK, the costs of strengthening bridges owned by highway authorities is estimated to be some £700 million.
All the above costs are met from public funds.