A bridge in Kendal battered by violent storms more three-and-a-half years ago looks set to be demolished to make way for a £1.6 million replacement.

Gooseholme Bridge over the River Kent was declared unsafe and shut in January 2016 after its piers and timber deck were wrecked in Storm Desmond.

A formal application has been lodged with Cumbria County Council to demolish the structure where there has been a crossing for around 144 years.

The demolition plans have been submitted by the county council’s infrastructure recovery to its development control committee

Councillors are being asked to give the go-ahead to the demolition at a meeting in Kendal on Tuesday, August 13, chaired by Geoff Cook, the Liberal Democrat member for Kendal Highgate.

A report said there is a limited window up to September 30 when in-river working is allowed to take place.

“The demolition works are provisionally programmed to commence in late August and are anticipated to take up to three weeks,” it said.

The new bridge, a single span steel-tied arch structure spanning 42m and reconnecting New Road with Gooseholme, is due to be installed in 2020.

It will provide better access for those on wheels and will improve water flow and reduce flood risk when the River Kent is in spate, said the report.

Previous versions of Gooseholme Bridge were washed away in 1874 and 1898.

A reinforced concrete deck was added in 1913, which was replaced with a timber deck in 1982.

Other notable floods hit in October 1927, December 1954 and December 1964, said the report.

The report said: “It is evident that Gooseholme Bridge has been impacted by flooding and that keeping a structure at the same height as the existing is not sufficient to ensure the structure is not damaged in future.”

The demolition will involve the removal of railings, the timber deck, three piers, abutment walls and ramps.

It will require a temporary construction compound on grassland to the south east of the bridge, opposite 1-6 Little Aynam, and a smaller ‘satellite’ compound south west of the bridge on New Road Common, the report said.

Access for all plant and labour will be from the eastern riverbank.

Funding for the new bridge has been sourced by Cumbria County Council, the Environment Agency and South Lakeland District Council.

The application has been recommended for approval with seven conditions including a restriction on the working hours of 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, and no working on Sundays.