THE grand re-opening of a bridge which crumbled into the river below it last year will take place tomorrow (Thursday).

Eastham Bridge, near Tenbury Wells, collapsed into the river Teme on May 24, 2016 – right in front of a bus with 11 children from Lindridge School on board.

Luckily, the quick-acting bus driver, Derek Trow, managed to avert disaster by reversing off the bridge.

Mr Trow will now be the first person to drive across the new structure.

Since the collapse, work has been underway to replace the bridge and the new structure is clad in some of the bricks from the former, Grade II listed arch.

Work is yet to be finished, however the bridge can now re-open under temporary traffic lights.

Jon Fraser, Highways manager at Worcestershire County Council, said: "We are delighted that Eastham Bridge is re-opening.

Everybody associated with the scheme has worked incredibly hard to get us to this position, and we are looking forward to the full completion of the project in the summer.

"I am sure the local community will welcome the reconnection of the village to the A443."

Work remaining on the project includes the fixing of vehicle restraint barriers to the parapet, the removal of temporary cofferdams from the river, and general site clearance and tidy-up.

Once open, the new Eastham Bridge will eliminate the need for the current 10-mile traffic detour.

6 facts about the new Eastham Bridge

  • The bridge is supported by twelve reinforced concrete pile foundations that go down to a depth of 25 metres
  • Our contractors reclaimed and cleaned 12,500 bricks from the old structure that will be used as cladding for the new bridge
  • The very first vehicle to drive across the bridge will be the Lindridge First School minibus, being driven by Derek Trow – the same bus and driver that noticed the first signs that the old bridge was about to collapse
  • The main span of the bridge consists of two pairs of braced steel beams, 33 metres long and weighing in at 84 tonnes, which would be the equivalent weight of 15 mature male African elephants
  • The steel has been produced in Britain; manufactured in Teesside, from 504 individually cut steel plates welded into 12 steel girders and 134 angle bracings
  • These were then fabricated in Port Talbot, South Wales by long-established family company Braithwaite Engineers Ltd. The company has been trading since the 1880s and were on site to safely oversee the delivery ready for assembly