A driver caught up in traffic due to the temporary traffic lights complained they can’t see any work happening

Temporary traffic lights have appeared at a major A30 bridge after damage was identified. National Highways, which looks after motorways and major roads like the A30 and A38 in Cornwall, installed the lights on the A3047 bridge at Scorrier on Friday (October 3) after a damaged bridge expansion joint was identified.

A motorist caught up in the new ‘road work’ complained to CornwallLive that they couldn’t see any workers in action.

They said: “Traffic lights were put up on Friday evening on the bridge over the A30 at Scorrier. They are causing long traffic delays at peak times but there has been absolutely no work done. I have rung Cornwall Council to ask what is happening and they transferred me to National Highways. Neither could tell me.”

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A bridge expansion joint is a system of mechanical components that accommodates the structural movements of a bridge caused by temperature changes, traffic loads, shrinkage, and creep, allowing for continuous traffic while ensuring the bridge’s stability and safety. They tend to be metal plates that can move to accommodate normal movement of the bridge structure.

As it is the A30 and it comes under national Highways’ jurisdiction, we asked them what the work is for. A spokesman for the Government organisation said: “We’ve identified a damaged bridge expansion joint on the A30 over bridge. The temporary traffic lights are in place until we can effect emergency repairs and we thank people for their patience in the meantime.

“Bridge expansion joints are steel joints filled with flexible material, often metal grates or sealed plates. They are built into the bridge’s road surface to accommodate the structural expansions and contractions caused by temperature change, shrinkage of materials and the stresses of traffic.”

The National Highways spokesman could not say how long the work would last. He added: “In terms of how long, the repair requires a specialist expansion joint contractor and specialist materials. It’ll be carried out as soon as we can and reopened as soon as it’s safe to do so.”

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