Essella Road Footbridge

Essella Road Footbridge, Ashford, Kent, carries a public footpath over a Network Rail (NR) operational railway, it links a large secondary school with residential catchment area the other side of the railway and is very well used. The responsibility for the maintenance of the footbridge sits with KCC, following an agreement made in 1936 between Southern Railway Company and The Urban District Council of Ashford in County of Kent. The responsibility then transferred over to KCC in 1953, after taking over the role of Highway Authority, at that time. Due to the deterioration of structure, it is KCCs duty to ensure sufficient design and works are carried out to improve the current state and ensure that the footbridge is fit for continued public use. The structure crosses 2 no. tracks on the Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury) line between Ashford and Wye stations. The structure also crosses an additional 4 no. tracks and infrastructure forming part of a rail maintenance depot operated by Hitachi. The bridge deck is a 37.5 m single span steel through truss on masonry abutments. Each abutment comprises two voided sections forming a tower beneath the landing at the deck ends, and the approach stairs used to access the structure.