CUTTING edge technology designed to quickly assess bridges damaged by flooding could help bring Cumbrian communities together.

The BridgeCat uses sonars, an underwater camera and sensors to provide detailed information about a bridge’s condition.

It has been developed by the Department for Transport, Cumbria County Council and technology company Gaist Solutions alongside Ulverston's Tritech.

Roads minister Jesse Norman visited Saltherwath Bridge, near Tebay, to see what is believed to be a world-first innovation.

"The idea that we can survey a bridge quickly and efficiently and see if any damage has been done when previously we'd be waiting for divers and only doing one or two a day given the level of the danger involved, that's fantastically good," Mr Norman said.

"What it means is that potentially we can open some of the bridges that have been closed. That means traffic can flow, business can continue and isolated communities can get back together. So it has a social effect as well as an economic effect."

In the 2015/16 winter storms, 792 bridges in Cumbria were affected and some communities are still waiting for repair work to be carried out.

Previously when bridges have been affected by flooding, divers have been sent to assess the damage. However, they can only visit a small number each day, causing a delay to vital road links being re-opened.

Stephen Hall, assistant director for Highways and Transport at Cumbria County Council explained how exciting the technology was.

"This is a unit that we don't believe exists anywhere else in the world," Mr Hall explained. "We think it puts us right at the cutting edge of trying to deal with the change in weather patterns that we've got now."

Although the BridgeCat is a prototype, if it works well it could go on to be utilised in other parts of the country.

Councillor Stewart Young, leader of Cumbria County Council, said that with winter commencing, flooding was at the forefront of people's minds.

"We're only at the start of the winter now so everybody's a bit nervous," he said. "Everybody's thinking are we going to get more floods. so the sooner we can put things in place the better.

"This is important technology for Cumbria – the BridgeCat trials are exciting, and if successful, will enable us to gather important information about the condition of our bridges, which in turn helps us to plan and prioritise works much more efficiently and effectively."