Restoration - bridges Drungewick Lane Canal Bridge
- part of the Loxwood Link Extension Project

LOCATION Map 7   INFORMATION Road diversion signs were supplied by - Accord Southern Ltd Estimated cost of the bridge was approx £300,000 (UKP) plus a lot of volunteer labour.   THE NAME In the registry of West Sussex County Council bridges, of which there are over 600, 'Drungewick Lane Bridge' is the name of the bridge over the river. The title 'Drungewick Canal Bridge' was rejected because this is not the 'Drungewick Canal'. So the official name was chosen as 'Drungewick Lane Canal Bridge'.

Work starts at the bridge site     The road crosses the line of the canal by a culverted causeway and before any major site excavation could take place, the British Telecom (BT) phone cable, and the water main had to be temporarily diverted. [more on diverting services]     Trees overhanging the road had to be trimmed back and hedges removed.     The job of hedge removing was entrusted to Richard Julian who had done previous work for the Trust, most notably the construction of Barnsill Bridge, opened in 1989.

Following the completion of this preliminary work, the contractor, appointed by West Sussex County Council, Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, started work with site clearance and the stripping of the top soil. Then substructure work on the bridge began. [pictures: Dave Kersley]   NEXT - Start of construction BACK

Last updated May 2001