Work progresses on final phase of Bridgnorth wall repairs
Bridgnorth Town Council has issued a reminder to residents that Castle Walk in the town is closed to the public during the day as work progresses on the final phase of repairs to the wall that was the cause of the Cliff Railway closure.
The final phase to fix a stretch of retaining wall began at the start of this month.
The works, which involves installing soil nails and wire netting on the embankment in front of the wall, similar to that at High Rock in Low Town on the A442, and on Harley Bank near Much Wenlock.
The repairs are to ensure there are no landslips that could damage property of injure people.
The damaged wall was uncovered in December 2022 and led to a 14-month closure of Bridgnorth Cliff Railway.
Bridgnorth Town Council, who were liable for repairs, initially thought just 7.5 metres of retaining wall would need to be fixed, but in total ended up having to fix more than 65 metres of the ancient wall.
In total, the wall repairs were to cost around £750,000 and the town council had to borrow £500,00 from the Public Works Loan Board, which is being paid off by local council taxpayers over the next 25 years.
While the Cliff Railway reopened last year, one section of the retaining wall farther away from the funicular train, was awaiting repair.
A contractor was appointed to fix this remaining section with work beginning on September 1, which is expected to last 12 weeks and has led to Castle Walk being closed from 7am to 4pm.
Bridgnorth Town Council issued an update on the works last week, and says it is progressing on schedule.
A spokesperson said: “The majority of the vegetation has now been removed from the site of the retaining wall, with the small amount remaining being removed early next week.
“Design and testing for the anchors have now been completed, and the drilling process will be under way soon.
The drone pictures provided by our contractor give a great view of the enormity of the project.”
