Elland bridge won’t be reopened before Christmas.

Now the hope is the flood-wrecked bridge will be back in action sometime in January after delays have been caused by complications installing essential cables and pipes for utilities such as gas and electricity.

Calderdale Council and the Canal & River Trust are working together on the complex project after the bridge was badly damaged in the Boxing day floods.

Calderdale Council Leader Clr Tim Swift said: “We had always hoped that the new bridge would be open to traffic by the end of this year and, up until very recently, we were confident that this would happen.

“However, the whole project is complex. Particular care is needed to move the utilities from the temporary bridge to the new one and this has added a short period to the project timeline.

“I can reassure people that we’re in the final stages of the work to complete the bridge and are doing all we can to reopen it as quickly as possible.”

Graham Ramsden, project manager for the Canal & River Trust, added: “Everyone on site has been working really hard and making great progress. However, the bridge carried around 25 cables and pipes so redirecting them all back onto the new bridge was always likely to be one of the most challenging phases of the project.

“We are determined to reopen the bridge for local people as soon as possible and ask them to bear with us a little while longer while we overcome this final major hurdle.”

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Elland’s 1811 bridge is being rebuilt, along with nearby Crowther Bridge, using £5.5 million from the Department for Transport flood recovery funding.

The Grade II listed Elland Bridge had to be completely dismantled when the sheer force of floodwater washed out its foundations on Boxing Day 2015, causing massive structural damage and a huge crack in the road. This was one of the most iconic images of the flooding in Calderdale, the worst hit borough in the UK.

Once the utility cables and pipes have been installed in the new bridge the final works in the project include completion of the parapets and masonry and development of the road and footpath over the bridge.

The temporary footbridge for pedestrians, which was installed in January 2016 and runs alongside Elland Bridge, is now closed to public access as the approach ramps are being removed to allow better access for engineers as they reconnect all of the utilities.

Pedestrians will instead use an alternative temporary structure above Elland Bridge which follows the exact route that people will take when the new bridge pens. Like the previous temporary footbridge, the new temporary structure is suitable for disabled people, prams and cyclists.

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