Spa Bridge restoration wins acclaim

The five-month project to carry out extensive repairs to the 19th century footbridge has been named as one of three principal winners in this year’s historic bridge and infrastructure awards.

The awards are organised by English Heritage, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the County Surveyors Society.

The judges praised the Scarborough project for its “high quality workmanship and attention to detail”.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways, Councillor Gareth Dadd, said: “An award like this is a tremendous vote of confidence in the council’s highways engineers and their contractors.”

The 414ft-long footbridge has been a major tourist attraction since it opened in 1827 to provide a link between the Spa and the St Nicholas Cliff area.

Repairs to the decking and walkway supports began in November 2009, but the cost escalated by £100,000 as the work was carried out during the worst winter to hit the UK in more than 30 years.