THE recent front-page article, May 12, about the replacement of the Bridge's expansion joints and shock absorbers, triggered a memory about a bridge article I had read years ago.

I recently went to Liverpool Library to see if they still had the article, and they had.

While I waited for the librarian to get the article, I overheard two library staff talking.

The woman said she was going to a meeting on the Wirral, via the tunnel.

The man said she was mad to pay tunnel tolls when she could go over the Runcorn Bridge for free.

Liverpool Library is so close to the tunnel that Halton councillors walk twice as far going to the council chambers from their cars.

I was flabbergasted; surely it costs more in time and petrol to go over the bridge than through the tunnel.

The librarian returned with the article, written in 1964, and it said there were 42 plates in the main expansion joint.

These plates had not been machined, so that's why they are being replaced now, instead of 20 years time.

The engineer wanted to use special paint to protect the bridge from corrosion, but he was told it was too expensive; he had to use cheaper paints.

That is why the current bridge is so rusty.

The council hasn't learnt the lessons from these past mistakes; it's planning a double-decked bridge, which will require twice as many expansion joints as the present bridge.

B Cunningham,

Pex Hill, Widnes