Road bridges in Powys need £9 million worth of investment to bring them up to standard, new figures say.

A survey conducted by motoring group the RAC foundation says 62 of the county's 1335 bridges are 'sub-standard', the same number as an identical poll carried out a year earlier.

Many have weight or width restrictions, while others may be subject to increased monitoring or even managed decline.

However Powys also has more bridges than any other local authority in the county, so the proportion of crossings which require work is relatively low at 5%, compared to the worst council in Conwy, who have an eyewatering 22% proportion of bridges which require work.

The figures indicate that four Powys bridges are intended to be brought back up to their full load capacity in the next 5 years.

Cllr Phyl Davies, Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “Bridges are an essential component to the highway network which we have a duty to maintain in a safe condition. As the largest county in Wales, Powys has over 5,000km of roads and 1,335 bridges, significantly more than other Welsh councils.

"Bridges that fail an assessment for carrying 44 tonne vehicles are managed in a number of ways to ensure the safety of the user. Weight limits are used to reduce the effects of loading and help preserve structures for the future. Bridges categorised as sub-standard can include those that were built to earlier design standards or those that have deteriorated with age. "

Last year, the 7.5t weight restriction on a bridge over the River Vyrnwy on the B4398 connecting Pentreheylin and Carreghofa was removed following repair work at a cost of around £500,000.

"The decision for implementing a weight limit is not taken lightly. The rate of deterioration of a bridge is assessed alongside the failure mechanisms and the consequence of failure. These factors are balanced against the cost and viability of strengthening works as well as the traffic flows over the structure.

"Bridges across Powys are inspected regularly to identify problems. Where issues are identified or there is a risk of damage from, for example flooding, then the bridges are monitored more frequently.

"The council will continue to invest in bridge works, but these need to be ranked against other much needed highway works."

The RAC Foundations says that despite the financial pressures, annual expenditure by councils on maintaining bridges rose from an estimated £367 million in 2016-17 to £598 million in 2017-18.

Kevin Dentith, chair of the ADEPT National Bridges Group, said: "Bridge maintenance is about priority. In large rural counties, like my own authority, Devon, there will be structures that on paper fall short of current design standards, however they are never likely to be strengthened because they carry little more traffic than the odd car and tractor.

"Hopefully some of the Department for Transport’s £200 million Challenge Fund set aside for 2019-21 will be used to prioritise this work. We should find out more about how the money will be allocated early in the new year."