Teston Bridge - Maidstone
Following a road traffic collision in May 2024, a 10 metre section of the eastern side of the Grade I listed Teston Bridge was damaged, leading to stone from the bridge falling onto the embankment of the River Medway.
A closure is in place to allow site workers to recover the fallen stonework and rebuild the damaged section of the bridge.
The repair will restore the structural integrity of this historic bridge and make it safe for anyone using the bridge.
The work started on Monday 7 October 2024 and is planned to take 8 weeks to complete.
As the bridge is classified as a scheduled ancient monument and Grade I listed structure, we needed to seek approval for the works from Historic England and the Department of Culture Media and Sport.
We have finished recovering the stones that had fallen and have now begun reconstruction of the bridge.
The approved materials are often used in building conservation and not often used for modern developments. The length of the closure reflects the time needed for the materials to set and gain strength.
To repair the bridge so that it is structurally safe and in keeping with its Grade I listed status, we have to use the same types of stones as are used in the rest of the bridge. We cannot use materials that are used in modern developments.
We used a lorry-mounted crane to recover some of the stones that fell onto the riverbank and also sourced similar stones to use in the repairs.
A scaffold is now in place to allow our team to reconstruct the damaged part of the bridge both above and below the road level.
Unfortunately, the bridge is too narrow to safely open it up to vehicles during the works.
During the road closure, access to Teston Bridge Country Park will be available via the Tonbridge side of the bridge.
Between Wednesday 30 October to Monday 4 November, and Saturday 9 November to Monday 11 November, access to Teston Bridge Country Park for drivers will be inaccessible due to Network Rail works.
The recommended diversion route for traffic to travel is via Yalding, Nettlestead and Wateringbury.
We do not recommend travel over the East Farleigh bridge between 1 November to 4 November due to the Network Rail level crossing works.
Unfortunately, our works do overlap with scheduled Network Rail level crossing works on the Farleigh Bridge and Teston Bridge between November 1 to November 4.
Network Rail require access to both bridges which will need to be closed while they undertake their works.
Working collaboratively, we have scheduled in these works to avoid further disruption to the public.
Recent improvement
The extent of the damage caused by a car crash in May 2024.
The damaged area of the bridge was barricaded off for the safety of the public.
The scaffolding and work area set up to start the restoration of the damaged area of Teston Bridge.