07/12/2009 01:12:00
A Cumbrian town that suffered greatly from flooding caused by last weekend's heavy rains has had its two split halves reunited thanks to a new footbridge.
During last week's floods, the River Derwent breached its banks and subjected the north west England town of Workington to severe flooding, splitting the town in half as fast-flowing water caused the previous bridge to crumble.
The new bridge, which was built by the army, has been named after PC Bill Barker, the police officer that tragically lost his life when the original bridge collapsed. It took just one week to build and was first traversed by school children on Monday morning - a welcome change from their previous three hour bus journeys to get to school.
According to the BBC, the Cumbrian bridge was built to withstand a one in a hundred year flood. Major Nigel Hindmarsh, of the Royal Engineers, said: "We can't counter against all eventualities, but what we've tried to do is make sure if there are any more repetitions of the other day then we'll be able to counter for that.
"I'm immensely proud of what my boys have achieved in the last ten days, but also it's just been amazing the community spirit and the support that we've had from the locals in everything that we've been doing."
Inspector Mark Wear, of Workington Police, said: "This footbridge is a tangible symbol of how we are starting to rebuild the area and getting back to normal."
