Subsidence has been discovered on Worcester Road in Evesham, Worcestershire that will now impact a planned ten-week programme of repairs for the town’s Abbey Bridge.

With the project organised by Worcestershire County Council and set to get underway this week, the problem of subsidence on the route to the bridge has been discovered today (September 19th) by engineers tasked with carrying out the work.

It could cause issues for local motorists and pedestrians, as well as engineering staff transporting materials and equipment to the bridge to complete the repairs.

As such, the local authority has cordoned off the area and stated it will look to fix the issue as swiftly as possible in order to limit the impact of the planned maintenance on the local community and businesses in the area.

John Smith, county council cabinet member for highways and transport and county councillor for Evesham North West, said: “This replacement project is massively important when it comes to making sure our town remains ‘open for business’ in the future.

“The alternative, as a result of doing nothing, would mean this vital link would close permanently to vehicles. The economic impact of that would be disastrous.”

Costing around £8 million, the entire structure of Abbey Bridge is being replaced over the coming months, as the local authority looks to lift the 7.5-tonne weight restriction that had been in place along the route.

It remains to be seen how long it will take to address this additional issue of subsidence in the area, but the council is keen to have the work completed as swiftly as possible.

Subsidence can be an extremely serious issue not only for those homes and businesses directly affected by the problem, but also for surrounding buildings that can be cut off from necessary transport links and services, as has been the case in Worcestershire.

Property owners keen to protect their financial security in the case of such developments might like to take out subsidence insurance cover from GSI Insurance Services (Southern) Limited, with our team of experts on hand to deal with any queries individuals may have regarding their policies.