Exeter Bridge Road: lane shut after cracks found in deck

A lane on the A379 Bridge Road has now been shut for more than a week, and Devon County Council has not set a date for reopening it.

The emergency restriction went in on Monday 17 August. The council expected it to be gone by the Friday afternoon. Instead, engineers working under the deck found more damage than they had bargained for.

What the engineers found

The first problem was in the fixings that hold the bascule bridge’s aluminium deck in place. Some had suffered galvanic corrosion, which happens when different metals touch and then react with water or salt water. The council called it “a known design issue with these types of bridges” and said it “underlines why the aging bascule bridges need to be replaced”. (Devon County Council, 18 August 2026)

Repairing that meant exposing more of the structure. Once it was exposed, engineers found cracks and more extensive corrosion that nobody had seen before. The council says the defects “only became apparent as repairs progressed and components were exposed”. (Devon County Council, 21 August 2026)

None of it is visible from the road surface. That is why a bridge that looked fine to drivers on the Sunday was down to one lane on the Monday.

The council has arranged ultrasonic testing of the entire bridge deck for this week. That should establish the condition of the whole structure and decide what the next phase of repairs looks like. Until then the lane stays shut. The council’s position is that it “will stay in place until engineers are satisfied that it is safe to reopen”.

Why this bridge keeps needing attention

Two moving bridges carry the A379 side by side over the Exeter Ship Canal at Countess Wear. Devon County Council says the swing bridge is 90 years old and the bascule lifting bridge is 54.

The council’s own consultation material sets out how much keeping them going now costs:

• more than 100 maintenance visits to the two bridges since 2020, to repair faults
• annual maintenance costs of £115,000, and rising year on year
• repairs that “often require lane closures and traffic management”, adding to congestion

(Devon County Council, A379 Bridge Road bridge replacement consultation)

The council describes Bridge Road as one of the three main crossings of the River Exe in the city. (Devon County Council, A379 Bridge Road MRN) When one lane of it goes, there is not much slack elsewhere.

The £42m plan to replace both bridges

Devon County Council consulted between 15 June and 27 July on replacing the pair with two new bascule bridges, designed to last more than 60 years. The main points of the scheme are:

• a current cost estimate of £42 million, with an upper limit of £50 million
• funding from the Department for Transport’s Major Road Network Fund, with the county council contributing at least 15 per cent
• the shared path for walking and cycling widened from 1.9 metres to 3.7 metres on both sides
• an improved bus stop arrangement and better cycle route connections
• the south bridge built first, then the north, so traffic can keep moving
• construction starting in spring 2029 and taking just under two years

The outline business case is due to go to the Department for Transport in winter 2026. Detailed design follows, subject to the department’s approval.

The argument about how high to build them

Two things are being argued about at once: whether the replacement should sit at the same road level, and whether the public was given a real choice.

The Inland Waterways Association and the Friends of Exeter Ship Canal and Heritage Harbour say five options were discussed with stakeholders in October 2025, but only one reached the public. They say the chosen option keeps the canal’s “exceptionally low air drafts”.

Ray Alexander of the IWA said the council “appears to be back-tracking on its own Strategic Outline Business Case”, which had identified the potential for cyclists and pedestrians to pass underneath higher bridges. “This significant safety benefit would be lost if they now press ahead without doing so,” he said. The two groups also say support for raising the bridges came from the Exeter Harbour Board and from Exeter’s MP. (Inland Waterways Association, 17 July 2026)

Exeter Civic Society published its own response on 13 August. It wants the council to “review and reconsider Options 3 & 4”, which would raise the highway and give more clearance beneath. It also warns that only one lane each way will be available during the two years of construction, and suggests a temporary two-lane road or a new parallel road instead. (Exeter Civic Society, 13 August 2026)

Exeter’s MP Steve Race said in July that he was “disappointed that the consultation only presents one option for public consideration”. He argued for “more ambitious options that would raise the height of the bridges and increase the air draught beneath them”. (Steve Race MP, 2 July 2026)

What it means for you

• If you drive the A379 through Countess Wear, expect the lane restriction to still be there. The council has given no reopening date and has tied it to the test results, not to a day of the week.
• The tests are happening now. The council said on 21 August that ultrasonic testing of the whole deck was arranged for the following week. Any decision about further repairs follows that, so an update is more likely than not in the next few days.
• Do not assume a fix is quick. The last published estimate, that repairs would finish on a Friday afternoon, was overtaken within three days.
• Check before you travel. Devon County Council publishes an interactive roadworks map, and its news page is where the bridge updates have appeared.
• The replacement is years away. Even on the council’s own timetable, nothing is built until spring 2029 at the earliest, and the funding decision has not been made.

Our Exeter roadworks and travel page lists the other closures in force across the city, and the Exeter planning news page tracks the applications going through the city council.

Devon County Council’s most recent statement on the bridge is dated 21 August 2026. No later update had been published when this was written, so the position above is the council’s own and not an estimate of ours.