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Wednesday 16 Nov 2022

Slough bridge makes list of top 10 ‘most bashed bridges’ in the UK

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

New figures released by Network Rail show that a bridge in Slough, Berkshire, was the eighth most-struck bridge in the UK over the past year.

The bridge at Station Road in the Slough suburb of Langley was struck 12 times, costing a total of £181,000. The resulting delays were the longest of any of the other nine bridges in the top 10, with over 34 hours of disruption caused by the collisions.  Bridge strikes at the location were up by 200% on the previous year, when vehicles struck the Station Road bridge a total of four times.

As well as being disruptive, bridge strikes can have a lasting impact. With over half of all incidents being caused by HGV drivers, Network Rail is reminding those driving large lorries that they could face stiff penalties, including the removal of their public service vehicle licence, if they collide with a bridge.

As the country prepares for the busy Black Friday and Christmas delivery rush, Network Rail is launching a new animation to urge lorry drivers and haulage operators to ‘Wise Up, Size Up’. The ongoing campaign reminds drivers to take better care by knowing the height of their vehicles and choosing suitable routes before starting their journeys.

Network Rail works with a number of industry partners to tackle bridge strikes including Highways England, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and hauliers. While incidents have reduced in recent years, numbers have steadily started to creep up again - coinciding with an estimated increase in traffic volume on Britain’s roads. Overall, provisional estimates show motor vehicles travelled 318.6 billion vehicle miles in Great Britain from April 2021 to March 2022 - a 29.7% increase compared to the year ending March 2021. Lorry traffic increased by 10.1% to 17.8 billion vehicle miles.*  

Tim Porter, Network Rail’s asset engineer for the Wales & Western region, said: “Bridge strikes are dangerous, disruptive and costly, diverting public funds that could otherwise be used for improving and upgrading our rail network.

“The impact of a bridge strike is far reaching and can result in lengthy delays for both train passengers and road users. We are urging vehicle owners, and in particular HGV drivers, to ensure they know the height of their vehicles before they travel. Drivers should also plan ahead before setting out, checking that the route they’ve chosen is suitable for heavy goods traffic, with no low bridges.

“While overall bridge strikes in our region remain low, it’s concerning to see such a large increase in the number of times the Langley bridge has been affected over the past year. We’ll continue to work with our partners within the road and rail industries to raise awareness of this issue to ensure that drivers know the risks and take suitable action to avoid a costly collision.”

Dave Collings, DVSA’s head of enforcement delivery, said: “Bridge strikes are highly disruptive to both train and road users and often cause significant traffic delays and damage to vehicles.

“Businesses can lose thousands of pounds if they cannot deliver goods to their destination. In the most serious cases, a bridge strike can cause a loss of life and injury.

“All drivers and in particular lorry and bus drivers should know the height of the vehicle that they are driving and properly plan their route to avoid incidents happening.”

Peter Hill, head of structures for Highways England said: “Safety is our top priority and we continue to work with the National Bridge Strike Prevention Group to help reduce the number of bridge strikes.

“Every bridge strike can have a serious effect on the driver, the vehicle and its load as well as any damage to the bridge itself and delays for other road users while the vehicle is recovered and any repairs carried out.

“Current design standards require new bridges to be designed, constructed and maintained above the minimum standard headroom for our road users. For our existing bridges, where the headroom may be less than the minimum required, the allowable clearance is signed at the bridge and well in advance, to warn drivers of the potential hazard.”