In my last post I mentioned the recent closure of important crossing points over the Ouse Washes.
Limited or difficult access opportunities is a recurring feature of the Ouse Washes LP landscape, as shown in another, previous post.
- Flooded Earith causeway – earlier this year. Source: http://www.highwaysindustry.com/News/Raising-the-road-to-help-reduce-flooding-at-Earith-Bridge
Further exacerbating connectivity problems for local communities are the current works on Earith Bridge, one of the few crossing points over the Ouse Washes and Great Ouse River.
Although both Welney causeway and Sutton Ghault causeways have been down for traffic, Earith causeway is still unaffected. Nevertheless, this causeway is also prone to flooding and was shut for a prolonged period earlier this year.
Earith: village sign
Currently, a £350,000 project is being delivered to carry out repairs on the Earith bridge structure; this work started on March 1 and should take around six weeks to complete, with the bulk of the work carried out at weekends under a full bridge closure with off-peak working controlled by traffic lights during weekdays.
The road will also now be resurfaced to raise the level and fill in low points which are the most prone to flooding. As a result, there should be a noticeable reduction in the number and duration of road closures caused by flooding. Some articles which provide more details on these works: http://www.highwaysindustry.com/News/Raising-the-road-to-help-reduce-flooding-at-Earith-Bridge and http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/earith_road_will_be_raised_to_help_reduce_number_of_floods_1_1969395
Earith suspension bridge c1929, the predecessor to the current bridge, originally built in 1865. Source: Mike Petty
This important crossing point over the Great Ouse river has a long history. Mike Petty recently wrote an interesting article about the history of the river crossing at Earith, with a succession of bridges at this spot going back to at least 1286. You can download a copy of Mike’s article here:Bridging the Gap – Mike Petty 25 03 2013 in Cambridge News
In 1960 an ex-army truck was mobilized to shuttle school children to Earith primary school through the flooded road. source: Mike Petty.
With an increase in traffic after WWII, the present bridge was built and was officially opened on 5th April 1963.
Related articles
- Ouse Washes Roads Flooded once more (ousewasheslps.wordpress.com)
- The End of Flooding? (ousewasheslps.wordpress.com)
- Barriers to Access? (ousewasheslps.wordpress.com)
- Fenland History on Friday (ousewasheslps.wordpress.com)
- Earith road will be raised 50mm to help reduce number of floods (huntspost.co.uk)
- High in the Sky: Heritage & Landscape photography from above (ousewasheslps.wordpress.com)
