Bristol: Chocolate Path collapse poses 'risk to life'

The Chocolate Path has been affected by subsidence for several years and a new council report says a bridge along the route is at risk of collapse

A beam supporting a riverside walking route is so corroded that it is at risk of collapse, with potentially fatal consequences, according to a report.

Bristol City Council will spend £1m on replacing the steel beam underneath the Chocolate Path beside Cumberland Road.

A report by the council's cabinet said the collapse of the path could cause the loss of the city's Floating Harbour and 'pose risk to life'.

The Chocolate Path itself is currently closed due to subsidence.

Bristol City Council has identified the beam, which supports the Chocolate Path where it crosses over the sluice gates from Underfall Yard, as one of nearly a dozen structures in the city's man-made waterways in "critical" need of repair or replacement in the next few years at a cost of around £14.3m.

Work to stabilise Cumberland Road, which runs alongside the path, is also being carried out

The council is set to replace the beam next year and is monitoring other aging structures in the Floating Harbour, New Cut and Feeder Canal.

According to the cabinet report, the collapse of the Chocolate Path at that point would have serious implications.

"Probable resultant failure of this steel girder will potentially result in extensive damage to Underfall sluice outfall resulting in a flooding event or possibly the loss of the Floating Harbour, due to water loss into the New Cut river," it said.

"Collapse of the structure poses risk to life, reputational risk, financial risk and loss of function of Underfall sluice gates," it said.

If the bridge is not replaced then the Chocolate Path would be unable to reopen as planned in July 2022, according to the BBC's Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Work is under way on repairing the path and stabilising Cumberland Road, which is also at risk of subsidence.