What went wrong with the Ralph Butcher Causeway? Councillor Update.

KING’S DYKE BRIDGE UPDATE – Mon June 9th

Work to repair the King’s Dyke Bridge was meant to have started last month. On 19th May, County Council Highways published a statement saying that the start date for the remedial work had been ‘delayed’, but provided no public explanation as to why.

Michael Fisher and I, as your two local County Councillors, were given information but only on a confidential basis. There was no justification for keeping this information secret from the public – local people have a right to know. As happened eight months ago, I had to appeal to the County Council Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer, and they (once again) overruled County County Highways and agreed that the information about the Bridge was not confidential and should not have been kept secret by County Highways. Despite this, County Highways still haven’t been open with local residents, so I’ll tell you here what has happened.

Before starting the remedial works, Jones Brothers’ technical expert had to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed remedial works in light of the new position of cracking on the road. This was checked by County Highways’ own expert, and County Highways also bought in the services of a third independent expert to check both for public safety and for the efficacy of the proposed remedial work plan.

As a matter of caution (because, quite correctly, public safety is paramount) County Highways asked Jones Bros to create an emergency diversion plan if the cracks suddenly got significantly worse, or if they spread to the eastbound carriageway. That emergency bridge closure diversion route is still being evaluated by County Highways, and as your County Councillors both Michael Fisher and I have made representations about the detail involved in the diversion plan. We both hope, of course, that it won’t be needed to be implemented as, whatever route(s) may finally be chosen, it would be unbelievably disruptive.

Advertisements

Several months ago I asked that County Highways evaluate, in the event of more cracks appearing) whether a complete closure of the bridge could be avoided or delayed by implementing a ban on heavy vehicles crossing the bridge. In light of last month’s developments they are now getting that back-up plan checked out by experts.

As it stands, the cracks on the Ralph Butcher Causeway are being measured daily by Jones Bros and reported back to County Highways. County Highways has instituted a RAG-rating system (red/amber/green) to indicate on a daily basis whether the bridge can remain open for public use. That evaluation remains at Green. No additional restriction will be considered unless the evaluation turns to Amber. If it were to become Red, then a full closure would be more likely, at least until a comprehensive safety audit is carried out.

Indications appear to be that the new crack in the centre of the carriageway makes no difference to the technical evaluation of the efficacy of the proposed remedial works. County Highways and Jones Bros have a date in mind for the remedial works to commence. I’ve asked that they don’t make that date public until they are 100% sure that they won’t postpone the works yet again, because if the works start date is again postponed, they’d shred any sliver of credibility they may retain. But I can tell you that we are talking weeks rather than months before the works are due to start. The remedial works themselves won’t require any bridge closure or additional traffic restrictions.

Advertisements

The works are scheduled to take 22 weeks (but may be slightly quicker than that). The nailpiling work comes first, but the timing of the subsequent shotcreting is somewhat weather related as it’s temperature sensitive, hence the extra time allowed in the 22 weeks. Once that work is completed, full re-opening of the bridge both ways will take place. There will then be a couple of months of the remedial works settling in, but so long as that happens as expected then , some time next year, the carriageway will be resurfaced. That resurfacing is the only point at which the bridge is scheduled to be fully closed, and everyone’s very aware that that work needs to be done very quickly and at a time/day which causes least disruption.

Time is of the essence now, as the likelihood of flood closures on the B1040/North Bank increases significantly every year after October.

I know many people will be concerned to hear this news, but it’s important people know the truth, as all sorts of wild rumours have been circulating. If only County Highways had been less secretive, everyone would have been better informed. With the information I’ve been given, I’m guardedly hopeful that these plans will work.

Both Michael Fisher and I, as your County Councilors, are working together to monitor what County Highways and Jones Bros are doing. I’m supporting Michael’s work evaluating whether the current planned handover date for the bridge, next year, from Jones Bros to County Highways is too early, possibly transferring risk to the public purse before the effectiveness of the remedial works is fully and comprehensively tried and tested.

All works undertaken at the bridge continue to be at the contractor’s expense, not the County Council’s.

I can be contacted on cboden@fenland.gov.uk if you have any questions, and will try to answer any questions posted on here. I’ll keep residents informed as and when developments occur and I’ve asked for this whole matter to be put as an Agenda Item on next week’s Full Council meeting at Whittlesey Town Council, so that I can give a full update to everyone and to give Councillors the opportunity to ask questions.

CHRIS BODEN 9th June 2025.