A new £50,000 footbridge is due to be installed near Ely to complete the final link in a major project to improve the Fen Rivers Way. The bridge will be installed where the Braham Dock meets the River Great Ouse between Ely and Little Thetford. It will pr

A new £50,000 footbridge is due to be installed near Ely to complete the final link in a major project to improve the Fen Rivers Way.

The bridge will be installed where the Braham Dock meets the River Great Ouse between Ely and Little Thetford.

It will provide a safer crossing over the dock for walkers using the popular right of way. Currently they use a narrow path next to the main line railway between Ely and Cambridge.

The scheme forms part of a major programme of access improvements on the 34-mile Fen Rivers Way - including replacing stiles with kissing gates.

The 24-metre long steel construction with wooden footway and handrails and will be installed by a local engineering firm.

Cambridgeshire County Council's Countryside Access Team is working in partnership with the Environment Agency and local landowners on the installation of the bridge. It will form a vital link in the long distance route between Cambridge and King's Lynn.

Work is likely to start next month on the bridge, which will also help walkers explore an attractive and historic area of countryside where evidence of medieval villages, monastic settlements and a Bronze Age causeway still exists.

Cambridgeshire County Council rights of way officer, John Sargeant, said, "The Braham Dock bridge is an important part of the council's on-going work on the Fen Rivers Way to improve access, and the bridge will ensure the safety of walkers and stop people having to stray from the right of way to navigate the dock and walk on the nearby railway embankment.