Weaver Bridge Crash – Update

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT

Having retired to bed with cocoa and cryptic crossword on Monday night, all was quiet, the dogs were snoozing. Then at 10:10pm the peace was shattered by an almighty "bang".

By peering out of the bedroom window it was clear all was not well on the River Weaver bridge. In the dark it was difficult to make out what was happening, but a milk tanker was definitely not in a happy state. It was horizontal across the road on its side, but more than that it was difficult to establish. Already cars had stopped so immediate help was at hand. By 10:30pm the emergency services has arrived, but no ambulance it seemed. Good news! Hopefully the driver is OK.

Enough excitement for one night, so back to the cocoa and crossword.

The need for a trip to the bathroom at 03:00 (it's my age!) allowed another look at what was happening down on the bridge. Flashing lights and floodlights made it possible to see that the recovery wagons were at work shifting the tanker.

In the morning gloom at 07:00am the tanker had miraculously disappeared. The road and bridge were obviously in a sorry state, but a narrow single track was marked out by cones. OK for cars/vans, but for wagons & buses it was yet another detour.

What caused the incident? Who knows, but it seems a bit of a coincidence that yet another set of Audlem temporary traffic lights had appeared on the bridge earlier in the day.

Update at 10:30am: road looks closed.

Dave Martin
Ed : Our thanks to Dave for this update and photos and to Tim Denning for the night images