Yorkshire Worlds course under repair after collapse of bridge

The bridge that collapsed on the elite men's road race course for the UCI Road World Championships is now under repair, according to a report in the North Yorkshire Council. The Grinton Moor Bridge, along with several other bridges in the area, had collapsed due to fast-flowing water and left the road impassable, forcing organisers to consider rerouting the race.

"We're here on site, just over a week after the floods, to start work on a bypass to the bridge and put in place a temporary structure which is good enough to take all the local traffic, and, later, the UCI Road World Championships," said North Yorkshire County Council’s Chief Executive, Richard Flinton. 

"It's important that we get the village of Grinton and the surrounding area up and running as soon as possible and reconnected with the rest of the dales. We're working hard to make that happen."

The Guardian reported last month that Grinton Moor Bridge had collapsed and left the road impassable. The area had experience heavy rainfall and caused flooding and the fast-flowing water carrying debris damaged bridges and roads in the area.

The men's 285km road race was expected to ride over the Grinton Moor Bridge [which crosses the River Swale] at roughly 120km into the race, just before entering the small village of Grinton, and ahead of the third decisive climb on course.

The Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team released images of the bridge after it collapsed. The images initially showed a gaping hole across the entire width of the bridge and the wall on the right side almost completely gone. Later images showed the entire bridge had been swept away.

The North Yorkshire Council ensured in a statement on its website that a steel pipe would be lowered into the river earlier this week, upstream from the ruins of the bridge, which will form the basis of a road diversion parallel to the damaged bridge. The short diversion around the broken crossing will be used until the damaged stone structure is repaired.

The eight days of racing at the Yorkshire World Championships will begin September 22 and conclude Sunday, September 29, with the elite men's road race.