Engineering Design Consultants

New East Riding Bridge Swings into Action

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Nestling some 25 miles inland from Hull and surrounded by fertile agricultural land, Goole is regarded as the most inland port in the UK . It grew up around the confluence of the River Ouse and the Dutch River, so called after this section of the River Don was engineered in the early 16th century by Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch engineer who worked on many navigation and drainage projects in eastern England and became an English citizen.

Goole's connection to the canal network by the Dutch River and its position near the vast Yorkshire coalfield and the industrial cities of Yorkshire led to its rapid expansion during the 19th century. A timber swing bridge was built in 1760 to link the communities that had grown up on both sides of the river while allowing ships to pass through, and in the 1890s this was replaced by a steel structure.

Over the last 30 years the Victorian bridge required increasing expenditure by the former Humberside County Council and its successor, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC), in order to keep it operating satisfactorily, but these had not solved problems caused by the narrowness of the carriageway and footway and the possible need to impose weight restrictions because of its structural condition.

‘The bridge carries the A161 highway over the Dutch River and acts as a vital link between Old Goole and Goole. The only alternative route for traffic and pedestrians is a 38-mile diversion', explained Andrew Arundel, assistant principal engineer with ERYC's civil engineering services group and scheme project manager.