News / Gaol Ferry Bridge
Gaol Ferry Bridge likely to be closed for another three months
A discovery of “paper thin” steel work on Gaol Ferry Bridge has been cited as the reason for the extension of its closure by an unprecedented extra three months.
The key foot and cycle bridge connecting Southville and the city centre closed for repairs in August.
Back then, Bristol City Council said Gaol Ferry Bridge, usually a major commuter route for pedestrians and cyclists, would be closed for “six to nine months”.
is needed now More than ever
It said the 1930s suspension bridge needed extensive repairs to structural steelwork, rotten timbers, steel lattice work and stonework.
Now, the council’s cabinet member for transport has apologised after contractors Griffiths have found “the bridge is in a worse condition than we had thought”.
Writing in Marvin Rees’ blog, Don Alexander said: “After nearly a century, the steel work is especially degraded around the southern pier (tower).
“In some places, it has become paper thin. Without extensive repairs it could fail, as the pictures on this blog show.
“We cannot let that happen and remain committed to restoring this ageing infrastructure.”
Grifitths expect the second northern pier to be in a similar state and envisage it will need to extend the works for an extra three months, meaning Gaol Ferry Bridge might not reopen until the August.
“I am sorry this is not better news,” Alexander said.
“I know this will come as a blow to the thousands of people who use this popular foot and cycle bridge and to the nearby businesses, especially the traders at Wapping Wharf.”
Phil Haughton, founder of Better Food, is one of a community of retailers at Wapping Wharf who lamented Gaol Ferry Bridge’s closure in April, fearing customer footfall would be axed to zero
The Labour councillor for Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston also believes that a second bridge across the New Cut might need to be built, even after the repair works are complete.
Alexander said: “As a lightweight suspension bridge, it was not originally designed to carry quite the number of people who, up until its temporary closure, used it each day to cross between south Bristol and this part of Spike Island.
“After we have invested in fixing existing structures, I think it is only right that the city considers the need for another nearby foot and cycle bridge across the New Cut.
“As Bristol continues to grow, to 550,000 residents by the middle of this century, that would help better distribute the load and relieve the pressure on the 60 metre span of Gaol Ferry Bridge.
This latest news would bring the total cost of repairing the nearly century-old bridge from £1m to £1.5m.
All photos: Betty Woolerton
Read next:
- ‘More annoyance to come’ as other bridges need repairs after Gaol Ferry
- Gaol Ferry Bridge ‘so fragile it could have broken in the next storm’
- The gaol that was here before Gaol Ferry Bridge
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