Millions of pounds must be spent to restore the backlog of substandard bridges in Wrexham to a good condition, new figures show.
The RAC Foundation said the threat of more severe weather due to climate change could lead to dangerous collapses on Great Britain's highways and has urged councils to address unsuitable bridges.
Out of 209 bridges in the area, Wrexham council identified five which were unable to carry the heaviest vehicles regularly using highways – including lorries up to 44 tonnes – in 2021.
Those bridges and the weight restrictions are:
Lower Wych 2 Bridge – 7.5 T
Brook lane Bridge – 25 T
Gwenfro - 7.5 T
Llewelyn Pont – 18 T
Cook’s New Bridge – 7.5 T
The council estimates it would cost £4 million to restore them to a good condition.
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Nationally, local councils estimate they need to spend £4.2 billion on bridge restoration.
The national bridges group of the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport has urged the Department for Transport to invest in repairing bridges or face the risk of seeing more collapses than identified in the RAC Foundation figures.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We are providing more than £5 billion of investment over 2020 to 2025 for highways maintenance to local highways authorities across England, including for the repair and maintenance of bridges.
"It is up to councils to decide how they use highways maintenance funding, based on their own needs and priorities."
Across Great Britain, local authorities assessed 3,211 substandard bridges at the end of last year – up from 3,105 the year before and the highest number since 2017.
It means 4.5% of bridges across Great Britain are deemed unsuitable.
This could be because they were built to earlier design standards, while others have deteriorated through age and use.
Many are subject to weight restrictions, while others are under programmes of increased monitoring or even managed decline.
The RAC Foundation analysis is based on data provided by 196 councils in response to freedom of information requests.
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Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "Even the failure of the shortest of these structures could mean a five-foot long gap in the carriageway, and even on relatively minor roads that can still be a headache, causing disruption and possibly a long diversion.”
The figures also show Wrexham council does not intend to return any of its bridges to full carrying capacity in the next five years.
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The council said one bridge would ideally be brought up to scratch over this period if it did not face budget limitations.
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