Bristol council urged to act over 'crumbling' bridges

Ed Hall from Friends of the Avon New Cut is worried about further delays to repairs

Many of Bristol's bridges are "crumbling" and urgently need repair, say campaigners.

Recent repairs to Gaol Ferry Bridge took 13 months and cost £1.5m but there are fears the council is not acting quickly enough to fix other structures.

Ed Hall from the Friends of the Avon New Cut said: "They're in a terrible condition."

Bristol City Council said it had secured £16m to restore six bridges over the next five years.

These include Sparke Evans footbridge and the Langton Street bridge - known locally as the Banana Bridge.

Flaking rust at the Sparke Evans footbridge

Mr Hall said: "This is how thousands of people get from one side of the city to the other with no carbon emissions.

"I'm worried about when they [Bristol City Council] might get round to fixing this."

He was speaking from the Banana Bridge, which has mature foliage growing from underneath it as well as clear signs of rust and decay.

On Sparke Evans footbridge, parts of the metal on its lattice sides has rusted off.

"They're in a terrible condition and Gaol Ferry Bridge is a classic example.

"I've been banging on at the city council for five years about it. Hopefully they have some money in place now and they can get on with it," Mr Hall added.

'Crumbling'

The repair to Gaol Ferry Bridge, which connects Southville with Wapping Wharf, took twice as long as originally planned once the full extent of the damage was uncovered.

The council also recently committed over £4m for repairs and inspections to the Avon Fixed Bridge in the Cumberland Basin, but have warned that the overall cost to maintain the complex could be as high as £50m.

Phil Haughton runs Better Foods - situated at the Wapping Warf end of Gaol Ferry Bridge.

He said: "It is not just the bridges.

"There's a lot of crumbling and a lot of dilapidation. If I was the Mayor I'd be worried.

"They need to work with central Government to work out what they're going to do to look after this lovely city of ours."

Wheelchair- user Annie Cooksley said having Gaol Ferry Bridge open again means she can have access to the waterfront at last

Vauxhall footbridge, Bedminster bridge roundabout, the Banana footbridge, Bath bridge roundabout and Sparke Evans footbridge have all been listed as needing major repair works.

Sparke Evans footbridge will be closed to commuters in the near future, while works take place.

The New Brislington Bridge and St Phillips Causeway also need urgent inspections.

Meanwhile in North Bristol the Kingsweston Footbridge has been closed since 2015 after it was hit by a truck.

The council hopes said it hopes it will reopen next year once it has been taken away and rebuilt.

Kings Weston Road will close this weekend as part of the works to fix it.

Temporary closures

Councillor Don Alexander, city council cabinet member for transport, said: "We have secured £16m from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, administered via the West of England Combined Authority, to restore a total of six bridges that cross the New Cut as part of a rolling programme over the next five years.

"In the coming weeks we will be moving our attention to Vauxhall Bridge, which links Southville and Spike Island, and Sparke Evans Park Bridge, which links the Paintworks development with Sparke Evans Park.

"Both of these footbridges need urgent structural work, and we are looking to close them temporarily later this year so we can assess their condition and design a programme of repairs."