Creating a £580k reserve for the surfacing and painting of Whitby Swing bridge and the reconstruction of Marage Path retaining wall

The creation of a funding reserve of £580k using BES Revenue underspend to allow the reconstruction of Marage Path retaining wall and the painting and surfacing of Whitby Swing Bridge.

Any amounts not spent will be returned to corporate funds.

Marage path is a 100m long retaining wall along the banks of Cod beck in Thirsk which requires reconstruction with a predicted cost of £200k.

Whitby swing bridge was last painted in 2012 and to ensure the bridge is kept in good condition requires repainting soon. There are also issues with the bridge seizing due to expansion during prolonged periods of high temperatures, a surfacing scheme using a lighter coloured surfacing will mean that the bridge stays at a cooler temperature reducing the amount of expansion and the likelihood of seizing occurring.

Different options for Marage path rebuild have been considered, the route is popular and due to the land behind the site being a monument is it not possible to divert the path.

Other options for Whitby swing bridge have been considered, the only other feasible option was to introduce a cooling system, due to the swing bridge mechanism and potential freezing in the winter this was decided against as it would require a greater depth of surfacing to be removed and would require regular maintenance with potential reliability issues.