Abandoned Bridge To Nowhere - A120 Colchester Essex

#abandoned #infrastructure #essex
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Foreword; For Forty years this forgotten bridge has sat awaiting traffic that will never come. It was built as part of a grander scheme of roads for Colchester in Essex but it was never quite finished.
We'll look at why that is and also explore what the future holds for this piece of infrastructure.

[@philsharp758]

The planners were actually far-sighted. They anticipated a need for surplus infrastructure to provide subject matter for your channel. I mean where would you be without it? Oh I know,. On a bridge to nowhere. ;-) Great stuff as always. Cheers.

[@Alkimi15]

7500 new houses.... because apparently the traffic in Colchester isn't horrific enough.

[@drfingleFN]

i hate to break it to but there is new plans for 10k houses

[@DanDavisHistory]

Fascinating, been under it countless times and never knew this.

[@steveellis779]

Ahh my favourite bridge to nowhere. The number of people who don't know its there is scary. Even people who have lived in the area for 40 years.

[@toddjamin]

Yup, grew up there. Go under it every time I visit my folks - no idea!

[@Droningonuk]

I only worked it out with Google earth tracing the sliproad back because the lay-by looks like a slip road not a lay-by.

[@xr6lad]

But if you are going along the road and under it you’d just think it’s another crossover. Most using these roads have no idea what is going over or under them

[@bradj977]

I only moved harwich few years back and I've never noticed! I'm gonna look next time

[@stephenholt4670]

Scary perhaps, but I'm not certain most people really need to know about it, it doesn't really affect you whether it's in use or not if you just drive under it...

[@chrimbo90]

Many a happy drive under that bridge on the way to the coast!

[@ukar69]

For “garden village” read new town with little to no infrastructure to support it. No shops, no schools, no GPs. We managed to fend off one in the north of Essex as it would have dwarfed everything surrounding it and would have been visible from the M11.

[@garyh1572]

Yes, if only had the local councils in charge of infrastructure ( so they make sure all of these things covered ) instead of giving the Private Sector free rein to do what they want !!!!! Ah, yes, i forgot , we used to until the 1980s , when the Tories took away all that power . P.S. They didn't like local councils - because they were mainly Labour . Still , you get what you vote for !!!!!!

[@musewolfman]

This is bizarre. There is another pair of abandoned bridges to nowhere, a few miles outside Colchester, with obvious never-built slip roads. What's bizarre is that they're outside of Colchester, Connecticut, in the US. But the intro you gave to this bridge is remarkably similar to the bridges at the end of CT-11. The only big difference is that they are where the highway was supposed to continue going, rather than going over the highway.

[@DitzyNizzy2009]

It could be worse: it could be a junction with two bridges that's currently sitting unused. But that would be silly and would never happen.

[@oscarzt1652]

you mean junction 1 of the M49 near avonmouth?

[@lefthandedspanner]

@@oscarzt1652 or historically, M1 junction 33, now the main access for central Sheffield and Rotherham, which connected to absolutely nothing for the first 10 years of its life (that part of the motorway opened around 1967, but the Sheffield Parkway extension and Rotherway wouldn't come until 1976/77)

[@CORNERofTECH]

@@oscarzt1652 That’s exactly what I was about to say.

[@musewolfman]

Exit 4 on CT-11, just outside of Colchester, Connecticut?

[@tobyjackman3212]

This is the best video I've ever seen about anything

[@AutoShenanigans]

Good to see you again :D

[@AB-on1on]

We had a similar unused abandoned bridge on the A99 Autobahn ringroad northeast of Munich for a junction with a never build Autobahn to the new Munich airport. That bridge stood their useless for around 40 years until they widened this section of the A99 to 4 lanes each direction some years ago. On this occasion they turned this bridge into a wildlife bridge.

[@ALMELMUSIC]

Hahaha. Madness. Brilliant again John. I'd love your take on the debacle that is the Dartford Corssing... i wreckon you rinse that haha. The lower Thames crossing that is being proposed to sort that shit out at Dartford is only 8 years away though.... problem is that it's 8 years away every day until they start work on it. What a laugh!

[@TheFunkadelicFan]

That is absolutely NOT an "unused" bridge. It IS used......by walkers! I've used it roughly every week for the past 25 years. It's a great area for walking. (I live in Wivenhoe).

[@binky_bun]

A dark thought but I'm sure it's also been used by the odd one or two who never intended to reach the other side of it.

[@hubertbreidenbach]

Used by walkers: Yes! It's even been a picnic venue.

[@johnmehaffey9953]

Mmm, bit expensive though for a hiking trail I’m sure there’s plenty of other places to go hiking without having to cost so much money for its upkeep, like your post though and making use of it, my gripe is that amount of money being wasted when I’m sure there’s many other projects that could do with financial help in your area, ps my wife’s and my holidays are structured around her wanting to walk greenways and get away from hustle and bustle so I fully understand why you use it, nice reply to Jon

[@TheFunkadelicFan]

@@johnmehaffey9953 I don't know why it didn't occur to me, but I had absolutely no idea so much was being spent to maintain this bridge. If it has to go, I'll be very sad, but I totally understand.

[@pauljones-tj5vs]

Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time For y'all have knocked her up. I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe I was not offended For I knew I had to rise above it all Or drown in my own shit.

[@oblioi]

always a chuckle :o)

[@ianstewartorr8455]

Talking heads the road to nowhere greetings from Scotland thanks 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@kimpossibleyescruelladevil4960]

Oh my God, I don’t know how I don’t ever notice this I am on the Colchester to Harwich stretch of the A1 20 every Fortnightly

[@mattyg4k233]

I work on the motorway doing structure inspections, so I’ll go work on the motorway looking at concrete all day, then watch videos about the motorway. Honestly I’m really interesting. The amount of infrastructure is immense, especially what you can’t see, even on google maps. I’ll get a marker post and fight my way through the under growth to see something for its 2 year inspection. One pointless bridge is east off junction 27 of the M6, it’s used but pointless. At least the bridge you’ve covered is a good case study for environmental deterioration.

[@bertjesklotepino]

why is this called a bridge and not a viaduct? I thought a bridge crosses water. Im dutch, but we use the word viaduct for these kinds of structures.

[@AutoShenanigans]

That is interesting... what sort of stuff do you need to inspect that's hiding in the bushes?

[@bertjesklotepino]

hmm, dutch wikipedia page about viaduct says that i am right. A viaduct is something that goes over a road or railway or valley. A bridge goes over water. BUT the english wikipedia page about viaduct says im wrong. Funny, never knew this

[@mattyg4k233]

@@bertjesklotepino for highways, we call multi span bridges viaducts. They are typically more than four spans.

[@mattyg4k233]

@@AutoShenanigans typically culverts, but also retaining walls. Although we’ve got maps, sometimes all you have to go off is a previous photo (usually surrounded by greenery) and a marker post chainage. A machete would be incredibly helpful, but we’re not allowed :(

[@bradwhiteuk]

During the mid 2000s I was a student at the University of Essex, and often wondered what that random section of dual-carriageway on the A133 was for. It always seemed weirdly out of place. Thanks for making some sense of it for me after all these years 👍

[@malcolmyoung7866]

Ah, Colchester… home of Humpty Dumpty..(ish) Anyhoo just thought I’d chime in and say another spectacular episode John.. these are scarily close to ‘home’…

[@nathan_scofield_ynwa]

and twinkle little star and old king cole(chester)

[@adamcowood7553]

Wicked Sweet Awesome vid 😎

[@StellaAsh]

Thanks for that - I live in that area and I must have passed under that bridge dozens of times and never knew

[@bartman58]

This would make a good spot for an old-fashioned rave!

[@duckydashcam751]

A mid-week boost. Just what I needed, thank you so much 👌🏻🦆

[@paisios_]

Very nice videos!I m from Greece and i m watching your videos and Im inspiring!

[@paulswart4265]

So funny. Here in Netherlands they would have removed it. Just like all the unused slipr9ads and bypasses that are there in the 🇬🇧 UK, this wound never remain here. Your videos are really hilarious. Thanks for sharing.

[@Lext87]

At the A50 exit Beekbergen/Hoenderloo there's 2 bridges next to each other and only 1 is used. The second one is tarmac'd and all but not connected to any infrastructure. It isn't for wildlife because is near the wildlife viaduct Woeste Hoeve and too close to the other viaduct for wildlife to use it.

[@imSatnav]

Ahh but we leave them there just in case.

[@billy4072]

It's a rather handsome bridge tbf .. 🤔. Needs a trail cam... cos I'll bet hedgehogs and deer can't believe their luck lol.

[@BibtheBoulder]

Can't believe I have never noticed this bridge is not used. Then again I have never been on that road, but that is no excuse...

[@whyyoulidl]

Hey MNiJ, thanks for this - never knew. I have a few stories up my sleeve about Puckeridge, the A120 and Standing Calling, but that's for another time...

[@AutoShenanigans]

Share with us on the facebook group :D

[@01mememememe]

40 years! YIKES

[@MrGreatplum]

Sister has moved to that part of the world - I’ll have to make a visit there next time - I’m sure my nephew and niece will love it… 😂

[@colday74]

There is also an abandoned bridge on the A12 back towards Chelmsford.

[@Tse33333]

Is that the old Bridge over the train line between Hatfield peveral and Boreham on the A12? I see that daily on my drive to and from work

[@MisterTea74]

The roundabout in the random location is a relatively recent addition (within last 10 years) previously it was a perilous T Junction

[@TadanoHitohito]

The age old tale of engineers thinking ahead and building in anticipation for future development, and those plans getting scrapped because the bean counters can't think past the next fiscal year. Many such cases.

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video John,as always very interesting 👍😀👌

[@markhead8193]

another great vlog

[@Xaid0nTT]

The A133 between the A120 has in parts been future proofed for a dual carriageway. If you're near Weeley, the road goes under some extra wide bridges, which would neatly fit a dual carriageway through it. Believe plans have been scrapped though. Also, a numbering quirk in the UK, meant that before the A120 was renumbered, it was known as the A604. Used to still have A604 on road signs in Hare Green, on the road that goes under the A120\A133 link road.

[@markb4071]

Often wondered about the apparent random dual carraigeway and thought it was just to allow cars to overtake slower wagons en route to the port. Spent far too much time on the A120, having lived in Harwich and worked in Romford. Loved the stuff on the M57/M58 too ( as I'm now back home up North :) )

[@blakelikescake9180]

YAAAY NEW VIDEO

[@tasty_fish]

I live near a similar bridge that was to nowhere, over the M5 between 11a and 12. Built in about 1971 until around 2007 it had no approach roads and was just a bridge. I was the first person over it in both direction when it finally opened, to much local fanfare, connecting new housing estates on both sides. It got me an interview on BBC Radio Gloucestershire! #15millisecondsoffame

[@mercedes_and_more]

I have been that bridge so many times, it all makes sense now! I’ll be back there mid March so shall look at it now with fresh eyes and more knowledge - thanks 👍

[@chestnut01111]

Thanks for that. I pass there several times most weeks, and i'd worked out where it should have gone, but not the reasons why. Carry on the good work.

[@Badger66]

So enjoy these.... 😀😀👍👍

[@paulgray3065]

I live about a mile from here. Pass under this bridge everyday.

[@philtucker1224]

Nice one John, keep em coming mate! 👍👍👍👍

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Another Brilliant video Jon, really enjoyable and informative.

[@aldhous]

And straight in to the hard detail on this one. Straight in.

[@legalactivity6977]

I am always fascinated by your vids it would have been nice to see you get closer to it.

[@Jonathan_55018]

Great stuff keep them coming

[@dannyboio37]

Brilliant 👏🏻

[@joeweston3252]

Thanks

[@paulm1701]

I love these midweek shorter (or abridged) versions of Auto Shenanigans. 😂😂😂

[@philsharp758]

I know. They cater for those with a short attention span.

[@orwellboy1958]

You should be on the stage mate, there's one leaving in an hour.

[@stevekelly5166]

Thanks for the CAPITAL letters.

[@elizabethscrocker]

My favorite fun fact of the A120 is that due to the area being so flat and having nearly no natural formation for rock climbing/Bouldering. The local community used the cracks in the structures of bridges alongside the A120 as a place to climb! Love hearing a truly local place on here. Grew up in Puckeridge!

[@jamesabbott5242]

Awesome video

[@FreqyBiker]

Slow news day on the Essex Live website- they ran an article about the bridge and it was pretty much "there's a bridge here, nobody knows why".

[@alloydog613]

You had my "LIKE" as soon as you said _Colchester_! :D

[@AutoShenanigans]

Nice one, Thanks for watching!

[@stevec00ps]

I've driven under that many times, as recent as last week and I noticed the unofficial lorry park (I've used that to clean my windscreen when my washers stopped working a couple months ago!) but I've never noticed the bridge of pointlessness before!

[@CableWrestler]

There's another one of these nearby - Chantry Lane just west of Hatfield Peverel on the A12.

[@lukearoo]

Ah, it was this very bridge that goes nowhere that got me into looking up infrastructure related content on KZbin a few years back so I guess I've come full circle

[@michaelcampin1464]

We have an "unused" bridge over the A19 in Middle Herrington too

[@Droningonuk]

I was literally going to tell you to cover this last week I can't belive it!

[@smogmonster1876]

Just clicked the like button. I haven’t seen the video as I type this but it’s Auto Shenanigans, so it’s going to be good.

[@HT-jy7dv]

You should do all the A roads… I have a feeling you’ll be doing this for the rest of your life haha

[@paulscottrobson]

There actually is a road thing called "driving the first 99" which involves driving the full length of every road from A1-A99, and some people are seriously trying to do it.

[@oscarzt1652]

now this certainly is a shenanigan

[@AndrewG1989]

The A120 becomes single carriageway just after Elmstead Green towards Harwich International Port and Harwich town centre. There were plans to build a new A120 road from Marks Tey to Braintree and the current A120 road to be downgraded to B1xxx B-road that bypasses Coggeshall. I also would think that the A120 could of extend to just east of Stevenage in Hertfordshire which could happen. That would go parallel to the A414 that goes from Maldon to Hemel Hempstead via Chelmsford, Harlow, Hertford, Welwyn Garden City (A1(M)) and St. Albans (partly formed of the M10 motorway heading towards M1(N) Luton Airport).

[@adamg5582]

A12 Hatfield to Marks Tey is being widened from next year I believe. Once that’s completed I’m lead to believe the A120 will be completed, but will link up with the A12 somewhere near Kelvedon from Braintree. The Garden City he he spoke of was originally being built near Marks Tey but that got dashed. I guess they’ve decided the other side of Colchester..

[@AndrewG1989]

Be good for the A12 to be widened to continue on coping with more traffic in Essex. And the A12 in Suffolk also to be upgraded to dual carriageway from A14 east of Ipswich to Lowestoft with a new road to link with Sizewell C. Not to mention the A47 to be upgraded to dual carriageway in sections that are single carriageway in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

[@adamg5582]

@@AndrewG1989 I live in Ipswich. I dont think they’ll widen to copdock. They want to by-pass copdock interchange tho, with a spur and a fly-over for Felixstowe bound. That would help immensely! I sense sizewell will fall through! Boris’ wasnt it?! 🥱

[@AndrewG1989]

Yep. Copdock Interchange is such a stupid junction south of Ipswich. And yes a flyover would be ideal for traffic including HGVs travelling towards the Port of Felixstowe whether it'll happen or not.

[@adamg5582]

@@AndrewG1989 it’s all about funding I guess. Our council have some plans for it. Just not enough money right now probably?! Imagine how many improvements could’ve been made nationwide instead of 37 BILLION pound on a useless app. 🤮

[@robertbrown6930]

Where else but KZbin would you hear about crazy things like this?!

[@marymoor935]

Can't even drive, but I watch this channel religiously 🤣😎❤️

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

I do love a “random location”. 👍😀

[@bladeofzorro1932]

Strange, I was out that way today. Living in Essex, you get used to the time, money and effort spent on roads that are totally crap.

[@davidm5842]

I used to live in Harwich and have driven this bit of road literally thousands of times, noticed the laybys looked like unfinished slip roads, yet never noticed this bridge was unused.

[@sideshowbobsfanclub]

I live not far away and have passed under that bridge many times, until now, I had never realised that it didn't go anywhere. The wide parts on the road nearly always have something using them as unofficial lay-bys.

[@owenashcroft8167]

Lived in Colchester for 3 years and must have driven under that bridge loads of time, and never noticed it was a bridge to nowhere 😅

[@thefettfan3994]

I agree with your good self, what a complete waste time, money and materials on a non existent road and an abandoned bridge!!

[@oliveringram3056]

That's what councils do best....

[@Daisysdomain]

That bridge and link roads would of been so useful to my last year. I'd just finished doing a delivery about 6' o'clock on the eastern side of Colchester and needed to get back to Braintree ASAP. Having driven through Colchester and seen all the traffic jams heading the other way I thought that continuing eastward to pick up the A12 or A120 would be the quicker option. Took me and my mate an hour to make the trip, if I'd of gone through Colchester it would of probably only taken me about 40 minutes with traffic. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[@harveyshaw1466]

Wivenhoe to Ipswich once took me 3 hours

[@K-o-R]

Weird to see something like this that _wasn't_ a former railway.

[@Anonymoususer_2023]

The A120 needs a massive upgrade from Marks Tey to Braintree and to be fully dual carriageway with 4 lanes (2 lanes both ways), laybys and better improved junctions. And a new Junction 25a on the A12 that is where the A120 and A12 would meet. With the existing A120 passing through Marks Tey to be detrunked to A1xxx or B1xxx.

[@misterLukeG]

Gran Turismo. Nice touch

[@LeeSmith-cf1vo]

I've often wondered about that very one side junction between the A120 and A133. And also the way the lovely dual carriage way comes to a screaming halt at a roundabout a mile or so later. That it was once part of a larger plan makes some sense I guess. Are those new roundabouts going directly on the A120 though? That doesn't seem sensible to me...

[@MaxTSanches]

Why can't they just move the existing bridge? It would be more expensive, muck up everyone's travel on the A120 for a few months, not be up to standards, and just generally be a bad idea. So, look forward to it. :) .

[@kirkmooneyham]

This one I simply find rather sad. That bridge waiting for traffic that will never arrive.

[@IndigoJo]

The odd thing is that the old road into Colchester from the A120 is still open and hasn't even had a weight limit slapped on it like a lot of old A-roads have - they even built a roundabout at the eastern end for anyone who doesn't want to do the diversion via Ardleigh.

[@StukaUK]

My brain isn’t working fast enough to take in this level of detail.

[@themekfrommars]

This sort of insight just makes me more sad that the UK is so ridiculously uncoordinated and demonstrably unable to plan and delivering anything, by comparison with European counterparts. How come nobody has looked at the Netherlands and just copied what they do? Why does the UK still build housing developments that are a caricature of what a sensible use of resources and integrated transport planning would look like?

[@Droningonuk]

It's all about money for developers and back handers for planning that's all it's about.

[@minibus9]

nice video

[@ignacioverboten9382]

Not sure how you all are with large wildlife, but it could be excused as a wildlife/rural land crossing link. It should get new fencing across the span as well as a dirt layer and some shrubbery to complete the fix

[@PA3456]

Typical national highways great vid man

[@philtucker1224]

Ha ha! That’s one hell of a big bridge! (Difficult to think of what else a bridge is good for really 🤔……)

[@michaelyapp3254]

There’s a similar one on the M6 just south of Stoke. Bit more obvious to see it as there’s a barricade across it.

[@serenawatkins6875]

Great video as ever! And another video showing how short sighted or useless this country’s road planners and councils can be.

[@medler2110]

Is it all the fault of the road planners or is it the politicians, who give the go ahead for these projects, only for the same or different politicians to cancel them at a later date due to budget constraints or ideology or simply that sort of project has gone out of fashion? I can imagine starting out as a young road planner, with an idealistic vision of the future, and after years of continuous interference from central and local government, just giving up and sticking a few speed bumps and chicanes over everything.

[@tonys1636]

A bloody wide footbridge now as looks as there's access each end.

[@jamesbishop5562]

Of all the times I've driven an ambulance up there I've never noticed this 😳😳

[@stevolarry420stevenslozz3]

The crazy coincidence is that I drove through there today whilst delivering at work!!!

[@Cadcare]

I work with bridge engineers. I've known quite a few. In fact, I had a beer with two of them just an hour or so back. Any chance you can do the A47 Norwich Bypass? I drew several of the bridges on that one from Sydney during the 1980s. Maunsells. They did those forts.

[@josephinebennington7247]

There’s another abandoned road bridge over the Eurostar tracks at Ebbsfleet HS1 (International) Station. Can be seen on Goggle Earth.

[@robnewman6101]

Wow.

[@MikeWooshy]

Cheers John, I know this location well, I spent a few nights in the lorry at this location as I have had to collect from Colchester the next day. All the best pal. I notice you have Paypal now setup, I will send some dosh over soon! Take it easy mate and of course thank you!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Living the life... next to the A120 :D fair play mate. Appreciate the support buddy, have a good one.

[@BrianOConnorPT]

I ve worked on the design of that new link road, didn't know there was an old disused Bridge if I'm honest.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Really... interesting... so... how does it work, do you just get told to design "this road from A to B"

[@BrianOConnorPT]

@@AutoShenanigans you'd think a desktop study would have capture all that but not always common sense prevails, multiple times I found that highway authorities don't actually hold historical records (so call as builts) but then you end up finding them on the records of other statutory undertakers, I.e. Water board, network rail, etc. Most times its also not of the best interest to reuse infrastructure that is already halfway past its lifespan as cost is not really an issue since highway improvements are funded by the developers under a section 278 agreement. A popular way local authorities and national highways fund their network improvements, that's why newbuids in the UK are so expensive, only a fraction of the price tag relates to the actual house itself, developers have to fund additional affordable housing via special. Payment contributions they have to fund surface water management via SABS application and of course ensure the extra traffic caused by the development is mitigated by the improvements to the local road network via the aforementioned section 278.

[@andrewthorne6653]

Love the sarcasm

[@FSR2007]

Ha always wondered why there was a dual carriageway from elmstead

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Great research and (not so) tongue in cheek humour 😊😊😊😊🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@tomgruitt6563]

Ive been there!