Parts arrive in UK for swing bridge repairs

VITAL parts to fix the broken swing bridge which has divided Whitby have arrived in the UK, keeping plans to reunite residents on both sides of the River Esk by the weekend on track.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Jul 2010, 00:23 BST
Updated 29th Jul 2010, 00:23 BST

The replacement parts for the worn out gearbox shaft were delivered to Teesside yesterday from Italy and are being assembled at Scarborough Council's contractor's workshop.

Testing will be carried out today and engineers will be on site tomorrow morning to start installing the new gearbox shaft. Bosses hope to open the bridge tomorrow evening.

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The actual movement of the bridge was manually tested yesterday and was not found to be jammed. So hopes are high that once the new gearbox shaft has been installed, the bridge will be returned to full working order.

John Riby, head of technical services, said: "Firstly, I would like to repeat my thanks to members of the public for their continuing patience and understanding and again, I apologise to everyone who is being affected by the inconvenience.

"The good news today is that the vital parts for the gearbox shaft have arrived from Italy as planned and we are putting every possible effort into getting the bridge open for the weekend."

Related topics:WhitbyItalyTeessideScarborough Council