VEXED residents of Poole and Hamworthy say they are disillusioned with the troubled Twin Sails Bridge after a section snapped under mechanical faults.

Engineers are still working to repair the £37m bridge which suffered a break to a mast during lifting operations on the morning of Monday, January 16.

While reopened for pedestrian access, the bridge remains closed to vehicles as crews uncovered “an underlying hydraulic fault” with the structure.

A BCP Council spokesperson told the Echo: “On Monday morning our team were investigating a fault with the bridge and one of the encoders which communicates the position of each leaf to the operating system.

“During the repair of the encoder, an emergency stop was instigated and this caused part of the mast to break. Investigations are leading us to believe that this fracture may be due to fatigue on the mast.

“On further investigation it also became apparent that there is an underlying hydraulic fault and an issue with one of the bearing plates, which needed to be replaced.”

Bournemouth Echo: Twin Sails Bridge in PooleTwin Sails Bridge in Poole

Necessary repairs on the fault have been carried out and crews worked on the replacement of the bearing plate on Wednesday.

“It’s never-ending, it’s just continuous issues,” said Hamworthy ward councillor Julie Bagwell.

“While the design is iconic and looks great on a postcard, sadly, it’s not too good as an actual working bridge.

“For me, it’s just one problem in a long line of problems. How long will it take to mend it, and will they even be able to mend it? Who knows, it looks shoddy. I’m really disillusioned by it.”

Cllr Bagwell’s concerns were mirrored by Poole Quays Forum chair Bill Constance, who said: “It’s a great disappointment and my feeling is for all the people that have to use that bridge and have suffered numerous delays over the years.”

Bournemouth Echo: Snapped mast section of Twin Sails Bridge in PooleSnapped mast section of Twin Sails Bridge in Poole (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Constance, who has an engineering background, added: “It’s probably the wrong bridge in the wrong place. I think it is a wonderful design so it’s sad how it keeps breaking down.

“I don’t think we can start again, they just have to get it right and I can’t believe they’re that far off getting it right.

“We do have the wonderful old Poole Lifting Bridge which is nearly 100 years old and it still works. Bring back Victorian designs.”

The council spokesperson added: “We will be carrying out further checks on the hydraulic system to ensure the bridge can operate safely prior to it being reopened to road users. It is hoped that these checks will be complete before the end of the week and we will be able to update further on Thursday.”