Ten Foot Bridge, near Buckland, Faringdon

We are pleased to announce that the Environment Agency's local field team successfully completed the reconstruction of Ten Foot Bridge on 18 August 2026. The pedestrian crossing between Rushey and Shifford Locks, near Buckland village in Faringdon, has now been fully restored, reconnecting this important route for local communities and visitors.

Photos of the reconstructed bridge and one of the new bat boxes

Background

Keeping the public safe is one of our highest priorities and therefore following a structural inspection, we regrettably closed the bridge in March 2024 due to numerous structural and safety concerns.

The work is part of a wider programme of competing priorities across the non-tidal Thames associated with our Navigation infrastructure.  

Following the initial bridge inspection, a follow-up specialist survey of the bridge was completed to fully understand the structural issues associated with the bridge.

During the work, bat boxes situated on the bridge were inspected and removed under the supervision of an experienced Environment Agency ecologist. 

New bat boxes have since been re- installed to support  this protected species.

The bridge before refurbishment

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)

Please email us at enquiries_thm@environment-agency.gov.uk(External link) however please note that the most up to date information can be found here on this information page.

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