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Bridges and highway structures

Date updated: 6/12/2023

The City of London Corporation maintains five bridges

  • Blackfriars Bridge
  • London Bridge
  • Millennium Bridge
  • Southwark Bridge
  • Tower Bridge

If you have an enquiry or want to report a defect to our District Surveyor's Office please email the Bridges team or call our Contact Centre on 020 7606 3030.

Abnormal loads

You need approval for moving an abnormal load through the City of London. Your proposal must include your intended route and should be emailed to the Bridges team. Allow at least three working days for us to process your application.

Technical approval for highway structures

The City Corporation, as highway authority, has a duty to ensure that any structure, new, existing, or temporary that spans or supports the highway is fit for purpose. Technical approval (TA) is a means by which the City Corporation ensures that as far as reasonably practicable such structures are safe and serviceable in use and that adequate provision for inspection and maintenance has been made.

The TA process comprises an Approval in Principle (AIP), a Design Certificate, Check Certificate, and a Construction Compliance Certificate. Templates for these can be found in CG300. See the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB).

TA is needed for works that could affect the support of the highway, such as basement digging, as well as scaffold protection and vehicle impact protection for scaffolding. Projections over the Highway requiring a Projection Licence will also require Technical Approval. The AIP records the agreed basis and criteria for the detailed design or assessment of a highway structure.

The Design Certificate, Check Certificate and Construction Compliance Certificate are documents which record that the Design Team and/or the Checking Team have undertaken their design/assessment and checking in accordance with the AIP and any conditions imposed by the Technical Approval Authority (TAA) which are to be completed before works starts, have been met.

NOTE The District Surveyor's office needs the application form, the AIP submission and the fee before the application can be processed. There is more information on the TA process in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) (CG300). For more information contact the Bridges team or call 020 7606 3030.

Guidance Note on Technical Approval of Highways Structures PDF (150KB)
Date submitted: 14/07/20
Technical Approval Highways Structure Interactive Application Form PDF (150KB)
Date submitted: 14/07/20