I’m not superstitious, so I don’t think that Friday the 13th is bad luck. Anyway, it the latest predicted date for the reopening of Ludford Bridge after it was hit by a reversing tarmac truck nearly ten weeks ago.
Work is in progress to complete the stonework up to the parapet. This should be complete by Friday. Coping stones will then need to be laid. These will be prepared over the May bank holiday weekend.
The expectation is that the scaffolding will be removed Tuesday to Thursday next week (3-5 May). The coping stones will be laid during the next two days.
The plan is to then finish everything off and clean the site up by the 10th. Engineers are adding three days after this as a contingency for bad weather and to ensure that the lime mortar has set. That takes us to Friday 13th.
By then, the bridge will have been closed for 12 weeks. Shropshire Council spoke initially of “at least three weeks” though I have always thought it would take three months. And so it has proved.
That three month closure has increased traffic congestion and hurt trade in the town.
Masons at work
Discussions at today’s site meeting