Bristol City Council in the UK has announced plans to invest up to £50m to repair the Cumberland Basin road network in the city.

The road network serves as the entry point to Bristol City Docks and is facing higher traffic levels than its actual capacity.

The plan follows concerns over the collapse of Avon Bridge, which connects Cumberland Basin with Ashton Gate on the A3029 Brunel Way over the River Avon in the south-west of Bristol City.

A report to Bristol City Council’s cabinet stated that this 1960s design of Avon Bridge is “no longer approved in the UK for any new proposed highway structures as the potential risk profile of potentially catastrophic failure is considered to be unacceptably high”.

The report added: “Whilst further deterioration is likely given the age of the structure, the role of the authority is to manage the decline of the whole of the Cumberland Basin until its overall future is clearly defined through the Western Harbour master planning.

“The overall Cumberland Basin structure complex has deteriorated much faster than originally designed for.

Cabinet members are set to authorise an initial £4.25m for inspections and structural maintenance for the five-year project.

The scope of the project will include expansion joint replacement, structural concrete repairs, bearing condition assessment and potential full bearing replacement, wholesale railing replacement, parapet containment barrier railing refurbishment, and resurfacing and re-waterproofing of bridge decks.

The highways officers will work with the team to develop a plan for the larger regeneration of the region, now known as the Western Harbour, by the council.