Work to remove central span of Temple Bridge to start next week

Long-awaited works to remove the central span of Temple Bridge in Hurley are set to commence next week.

The footbridge opened in 1989 and has been closed to the public since May 2023, when Environment Agency (EA) surveyors said it had ‘deteriorated faster than expected’.

Since then, frustrations and concerns have been raised by borough councillors, community figures and Maidenhead’s MP Josh Reynolds over the speed of the repairs and the ‘dangerous’ diversion route that takes walkers onto a ‘very narrow’ 60mph road.

The diversion takes Thames Path walkers along Temple Lane to cross over the River Thames at Marlow Bridge.

In August 2024, calls were made to speed up the repair work.

Over the summer, the EA revealed that £500,000 had been secured to be split equally to progress the work on both Temple Bridge and Marsh Lock Horsebridge in Henley-on-Thames.

In an interview with the Advertiser in May, Peter Collins, an operations manager in the Thames area for the EA, apologised for the delays and revealed that first phase of the long-term project was to remove the central span.

The EA has now confirmed that work to remove the 20-metre central pan of the bridge will start on Monday, September 29.

The River Thames at Temple Bridge will be closed from 8am on Monday, September 29 to 5pm on Monday October 6.

An EA spokesperson said: “This will allow us to inspect it further and determine whether it can be refurbished or not.”

Following this, the central span will then be taken away from the site to be either refurbished or recycled.

The remainder of the bridge sections will stay fenced off to keep the public safe.

The spokesperson added: “This is just the first phase of the works to restore a bridge crossing for the local community.

“The removal should take approximately one week and on completion we will reopen the entire channel for navigation.”

Mr Collins previously said the cost of the removal is estimated to be between £200,000 and £300,000.

He explained that the EA did not yet know if the bridge needed to be replaced or refurbished.

Replacing the bridge could potentially cost around £2.5million.

Moving forward on the multi-phase project, the EA explained that more funding has been secured to progress with the outline design of a refurbished or replacement bridge, and this will allow the team to appoint a contractor and look at funding options to move forward with the work.

“We have secured funding for this phase and for progressing outline design work for a refurbished or replacement bridge which should be complete by the end of March 2026.

“Once those designs are complete, we can look at options for funding through to construction.”

The funding is likely to be a combination of partnership contributions and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) grant in aid, which is money provided by the Government to fund specific projects or services. 

“Our project team will be working with the local community to review any alternative footpath diversion routes while the bridge remains closed, and to share designs when we have them.”

In May, Mr Collins did not state a date for when the bridge would reopen to the public, due to the timescales on obtaining the funding that was needed.