The Stainforth and Keadby canal in Lincolnshire is currently closed to canal users because of a problem with the Vazon railway bridge across the canal at Keadby near Scunthorpe.

The bridge is fitted with sensors that detect any problems with the structure. On Thursday, 1st August, those sensors alerted Network Rail that its mechanism had a fault.

Unlike normal swing bridges, the Keadby bridge has a unique sliding design. It is on the railway line between Doncaster and Scunthorpe, and the bridge is positioned so that train services are unaffected.

However, that renders the bridge impassable for canal users and will remain temporarily closed to boaters until specialist teams have completed the necessary repairs.

The problem with the bridge is a fault component in the mechanism that allows the bridge to slide across the canal. The component cannot be repaired, but a new one has to be specially made.

Network Rail teams are working as fast as they can on the repair, and hope to have the bridge fully operational again by the end of next week.

In the meantime, users of the Stainforth and Keadby should check for the latest information in the ‘notices’ section of the Canal and River Trust website.

Keadby Vazon bridge is the only railway bridge in Britain that slides over a canal. The original bridge opened in the 1860s but it was converted into a sliding bridge in 1925. The line between Doncaster, Scunthorpe, and the Lincolnshire coast is one of the busiest freight train routes in the country.

Earlier this year, the canal through the bridge was closed for nine days while one of the canal walls was strengthened, and in 2021 it needed major repairs when it couldn’t be closed.

We’re sorry to canal users who are being impacted by the fault with the sliding railway bridge in Keadby. Our teams are working as fast as they can to repair the mechanism. We’re in contact with the Canal and River Trust and we’ll work together to keep people informed about when the waterway can reopen.

Toby Patrick Bailey, programme director for Network Rail’s North and East route