Work has started to remove a walkway over the River Eden in Carlisle.

The metal walkway is shrouded in plastic wrapping

Shrouded in plastic wrapping, the link between the rear of the Sheepmount and the Etterby Road area of Carlisle has now been closed to walkers.

Two railway bridges cross the River Eden at this point about 1.5miles from Carlisle station.

The walkway runs alongside the railway bridge on the upstream side of the older of the two bridges.

Notices placed nearby indicate that work started on the 22 January 2011 and is expected to take about one month.

Eden viaduct walkway removal

Temporary electric lighting has been installed at the edge of the railway bridge overlooking the walkway to enable work to be carried out at night for safety reasons.

Some of the metal work can be seen above the stone pillars

Portable generator lighting units and welfare cabins can also be found nearby.

With the closure to walkers of the nearby Waverley Bridge this walkway was often used unofficially by locals wishing to avoid the long detour via Eden Bridge a mile upstream.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “The walkway is a redundant structure and in very poor condition, with heavy corrosion to metallic elements”.

He added: “The walkway is used by trespassers and vandals to cross the bridge and commit railway crime.  It has been identified by British Transport Police as one of the hotspots in the Carlisle area with incidents of train windscreens being “stoned” and smashed.”

It is believed that the walkway was officially closed many years ago.

New bridge for Carlisle

Carlisle City Council and Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, have been working on a number of projects for many years to try and get a new footbridge over the River Eden south of the main Eden Bridge at Stanwix.

The latest scheme, part of the Connect2 project operated by Sustrans, hoped to create a network of paths and cycleways between the Currock area of the city and Kingmoor to the north.

According to The Cumberland News, plans for the new bridge were shelved due to rising costs, estimated to be about £5m.

Your comments

Can you add to the history of the soon to disappear footbridge?  When was it installed, did you ever use it, are you sad to see it go?  Let us know in the comments area below.

Gallery

Dales Volunteers have been doing their bit to preserve an historic footbridge in Swaledale.

A group of five volunteers and some Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority rangers stripped down the damaged arch on Usha Gap Bridge near Thwaite and rebuilt it.

Ian Broadwith, the Authority’s Access Ranger for Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, said: “The bridge is more than 100 years old and the centre had sunk and was in danger of collapse.

The Dales Volunteers identified the need to repair it in a survey of the rights of way that they carry out every year.

A very popular footpath crosses the little tributary of the River Swale so a temporary timber bridge was installed in September, 2007, to keep the path open.

Bridge at Usha Gap - Photos courtesy of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

The stones have been bedded in with traditional lime and mortar so that it is in keeping with the age of the bridge.

Work on the bridge was scheduled for last year but was delayed as a result of the bad weather

The team had to build a wooden support – a former – that fitted underneath the bridge to help them dismantle and then rebuild the arch.

The timber bridge was then taken down and will be reused.

The National Park Authority is responsible for the maintenance of more than 2,000kms of rights of way, including more than 800 bridges crossing streams, becks and rivers, and its Dales Volunteers gave more than 6,000 days of work last year.

Generally, there are very few Volunteer vacancies but, in the Northern Dales, there may be opportunities for one or two new people with practical skills.

For further information, please contact Rae  Lonsdale on (01756) 751630 or e-mail volunteers@yorkshiredales.org.uk.