TF2729 : Safety Notice
taken 2 years ago, near to Surfleet Seas End, Lincolnshire, England
The River Glen is a tributary of the River Welland. It flows entirely through Lincolnshire, except a short stretch near Essendine in Rutland. Wikipedia: Link
The Fens, also known as the Fenland, is a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region.
A fen is the local name for an individual area of marshland or former marshland and also designates the type of marsh typical of the area, which has neutral or alkaline water chemistry and relatively large quantities of dissolved minerals, but few other plant nutrients.
Fenland primarily lies around the coast of the Wash; it reaches into four counties: Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and a small area of Suffolk, as well as the historic county of Huntingdonshire. In whole it occupies an area of nearly 1,500 sq miles.
Most of the Fenland lies within a few metres of sea level. As with similar areas in the Netherlands, much of the Fenland originally consisted of fresh- or salt-water wetlands, which have been artificially drained and continue to be protected from floods by drainage banks and pumps.
I noticed these smart plaques on a number of bridges, and concluded that they were an official numbering scheme of some kind. As their location was not tied to a local authority, I contacted the Environment Agency, and they confirmed them as theirs.
Apparently at some point half a lifetime ago a machine engaged in bank maintenance fell through a farmer's accommodation bridge, and they decided to create a systematic register of the bridges they use for access to waterways. This includes highway bridges, and those on private land.
The initial letter describes a region - K is for Kettering, L is for Lincoln, S for Spalding. The signs were made by a local workshop.
I asked if the list was publicly available, but they say it is not.