Powick Old Bridge floods from air: 'whirlpool' rages

The aerial photos were taken by Dan Jones of Dan Jones Chimney Sweep and show the condition of of Powick Old Bridge as you may not have seen it before as flood water and debris crash against it from the the River Teme.

A working platform has been built using ballast but, with swollen waters still crashing against the structure, it is difficult to ascertain what is happening beneath until the waters recede.

OPEN: The hole in Powick Old Bridge where a whirlpool can be seen from the air (Image: Dan Jones Chimney Sweep)

The bridge, famous as the site of the Battle of Powick Bridge, on September 23, 1642 suffered a partial collapse of the wing wall at the end of January.

However, Mr Jones, 41, also a certified drone pilot, said the images clearly showed the structure was 'eroding'.

He said: "There's a whirlpool on the inside of the hole. That's eating away at the foundations. It's a vortex of water spinning around, taking away more and more material. You can see the cracks getting larger."

In a Facebook post sharing the photos he said: "This shows the force of mother nature attacking the already damaged structure of the historic Worcestershire Powick bridge.

"I'll let you guys make your mind up what you think I know there's more to come yet and some of the debris I documented has already moved down stream."

He said he was concerned more debris and trees would be swept down the river towards the bridge and that the hole in the bridge was 'widening and widening'.

However, Marc Bayliss stressed the hole in the tarmac was not part of the medieval bridge itself and there was, at the present time nothing to support the surface, and it would have to 'come off anyway'.

"There' s group of people who are watching this very carefully - and that's quite right. It's an important historic asset," he said.  

Cllr Bayliss, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways and Transport, said work on the bridge had taken place over the summer, including getting the relevant permissions (including from the Environment Agency and Historic England) to make the rebuild and that material had already been recovered to allow this to happen but that the job need to be carried out in a 'proper way' .

"When the job is done, it will be a great asset for Worcester again. There are professionals working a project of which Worcestershire can be proud," he said.

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Bags of stone placed together to form a ballast wall were installed to safeguard the collapsed area of the wingwall from further damage, and allow the arch and abutment to be inspected further.

This recovery approach will also lead to a large proportion of the original stonework being reclaimed from the river bed. The wing wall will need to be completely taken down as part of the repair process, however, the rebuild will use as much of the initial stone and brick as possible.

The temporary works will be followed by detailed design of a permanent reconstruction, which is being worked on in partnership with the Environment Agency and Historic England.

The design will require further approvals ahead of final works next year.