Bridge 142 - River Thames Egham

Background

Following a tree strike in 2023, an inspection of the 90-year-old structure identified significant safety concerns, including cracking within the cast iron elements and the bridge supports. Ensuring public safety is our highest priority, and as a result, unfortunately Bridge 142 and a section of the Thames Path were closed in February 2024. A signposted alternative route remains in place.

Recent Updates

The Environment Agency plans to remove the unsafe bridge in summer/autumn 2026. Work is currently underway to design and manufacture a replacement bridge, which is expected to be installed in spring/summer 2027. To remove and replace the existing bridge, our contractor requires more aerial space, and we will need to remove a few trees near the bridge. The footpath will remain closed until the new bridge is installed and reopened, and the diversion route will remain in operation until then.

Previous update 

Our project delivery team is currently focusing on the necessary environmental surveys to help inform the overall project scope, and these have been taking place during week commencing 10 November 2025. Similarly, ground investigation specialists will be on site on 14 November 2025 to help detail the overall specification of the bridge replacement. Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide an exact date for completion of the work to replace the bridge. We will, however, progress this work as soon as possible alongside the competing priorities of our wider Navigation capital investment programme. 

We will provide a further update later this year with more details. 

We are aware of trespass and vandalism to our security fencing at this location. The security fencing will have to remain in place while we develop the project, and our local team will continue to regularly monitor any further illegal activity.

We urge people not to force or tamper with the fence so that we can maintain safety for all.  

The route of the diversion can be found on the National Trails website here: Temporary Diversion near Runnymede Bridge - National Trails(External link)(External link)

The Environment Agency apologise for the ongoing inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we work to deliver a safe replacement new bridge.

Contact us

If you see damage at this site or any other of our assets, please call our 24-hour Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60. More information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/report-environmental-problem(External link)(External link)

You can also phone our National Customer Contact Centre on 03708 506 506 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm). 

Please email enquiries_thm@environment-agency.gov.uk(External link)(External link) if you have any further queries, however, please note that the most up to date information is on this page.