Bristol City Council has maintained that work to restore the Gaol Ferry Bridge is still on schedule, but said the contractors hired to do the work still don’t know how big the job is going to be so can’t say when it will be finished.
The pedestrian and cycle bridge that crosses the New Cut River Avon between Southville and Wapping Wharf was supposed to close from June with the work originally meant to take six months. But the contractors Griffiths discovered the 100-year-old suspension bridge was in a worse state of repair than first thought, and that delayed the start of the full closure until August 22.
The timescale was then pushed back to between six and nine months, but now the council said they are still working out how long the repairs will actually take. Traders at Wapping Wharf have urged people from South Bristol to make the extra effort to visit them, and said they are urging the council to ‘explore all possibilities’ to reopen the bridge as quickly as possible, or provide access as quickly as possible.
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Some residents on Coronation Road and at Wapping Wharf have contacted Bristol Live to point out that no work was being done at the bridge on multiple days during November, and when Bristol Live visited on Monday, there was no contractors on site at all.
The city council acknowledged there has been ‘limited visible work on site’, but said the work remains on schedule. The council said the contractors Griffiths are still at the stage of installing the scaffolding around the bridge, and only then will they be able to properly assess the extent of the work that needs to be done to repair the bridge, and only then will they know how long it will all take.
“Although there has been limited visible work on site, our contractor, Griffiths, is progressing through the programme and remains on schedule, as planned,” a council spokesperson said. “Time was set aside in their programme of work to carry out detailed inspections and investigations of this nearly 100-year-old bridge, which could only be done once the decking was fully removed, to understand the exact repairs needed and agree a detailed refurbishment plan.
“Work is continuing with the installation of the scaffolding over phases, including an environmental wrap to stop pollutants, such as lead paint, from falling into the river. This will continue into the New Year.
“The rivets and some vertical stiffeners, which fasten the metalwork together, are being replaced and steelwork repairs have already started this week and will continue up to the Christmas break. We’ll be in a position to give a forecasted completion date once all high-risk elements of the bridge have been fully investigated and repaired or replaced,” she added.
The businesses at Wapping Wharf are urging people to still make the trip to visit in the run-up to Christmas. “We would really like to encourage everyone to continue support Wapping Wharf's independent shops, cafes, restaurants and takeaways by using the alternative routes to our neighbourhood, to minimise the impact of the closure on our traders,” a spokesperson said.
“If you are heading to Wapping Wharf from Southville, you will be able to cross the river from Coronation Road using Vauxhall Bridge to reach Cumberland Road. Anyone coming from Bedminster will be able to cross Bedminster Bridge onto Commercial Road.
“Umberslade, the owners of Wapping Wharf and the retail businesses along Gaol Ferry Steps and CARGO are in discussions with Bristol City Council to ask that the works are carried out as efficiently as possible and to explore all opportunities to re-open the bridge, or provide access, as quickly as possible,” they added.
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