Why did the Cornish bat cross the road?
A new bypass under construction around the village of Dobwalls in Cornwall is to incorporate a series of measures to reduce its overall environmental impact – including a ‘bridge’ to help local bats cross the new road safely.
Ecological surveys of the area around Dobwalls recorded 12 of the 14 indigenous UK bat species – all of which are protected under UK law. In a bit to protect them,
the Highways Agency has replaced some existing hedgerows – removed to make way for the
road – with bat bridges.
‘We needed to remove some hedgerows that grew across the bypass route, which ecologists believed are used by bats to find their way, using their sonar, to
and from their roosts,’ said a Highways Agency spokesperson. ‘These have now been replaced with two permanent bat bridges – one over the main road and one over the distributor road – forming a v-shaped channel that allows the bats to find their way along routes that have become established over generations.’
The £42million, three-kilometre dual carriageway should be completed this autumn. The impact of the bat bridge will be monitored for the next five years.
May 2008
Ecological surveys of the area around Dobwalls recorded 12 of the 14 indigenous UK bat species – all of which are protected under UK law. In a bit to protect them,
the Highways Agency has replaced some existing hedgerows – removed to make way for the
road – with bat bridges.
‘We needed to remove some hedgerows that grew across the bypass route, which ecologists believed are used by bats to find their way, using their sonar, to
and from their roosts,’ said a Highways Agency spokesperson. ‘These have now been replaced with two permanent bat bridges – one over the main road and one over the distributor road – forming a v-shaped channel that allows the bats to find their way along routes that have become established over generations.’
The £42million, three-kilometre dual carriageway should be completed this autumn. The impact of the bat bridge will be monitored for the next five years.
May 2008
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