Preserving bomb damage on Bristol footbridge ‘won’t impact timeline’ of lengthy repairs

During the Second World War the bridge connecting Spike Island to Southville was bombed and shot at

Preserving bomb damage and bullet holes on a footbridge in Bristol “won’t impact the timeline” of lengthy repairs according to a leading councillor. Vauxhall Bridge connects Spike Island with Southville over the Avon New Cut and will be closed to pedestrians and cyclists until 2027.

The bridge was built around 1900 and bombed and shot at during the Second World War. Bristol City Council is painstakingly repairing the Grade-II listed structure, but said the war damage being preserved was “superficial” and was not the reason the repairs are taking so long to carry out.

Last week one Labour councillor claimed that Historic England “insisted the bomb damage be kept”, but the government advisory body denied this and said they had never “suggested World War Two damage be retained”. Now it appears that decision was actually taken by the council.

Green Councillor Ed Plowden, chair of the transport policy committee, said: “We are grateful to Historic England for their help and advice throughout this project. Generally, it is best conservation practice to retain as many original features as possible, but Historic England understands and supports our plan to replace large sections of the bridge and to address historic deficiencies in its design, as it is in such a poor state of repair.

“Historic England has also welcomed our plans to preserve the bomb damage to Vauxhall Bridge, caused in the Second World War, including bullet holes. Luckily, as the damage is superficial and not on the main structure, we can preserve it without it impacting the timeline.”

Nevertheless the repairs are still taking three years, longer than the two years initially estimated. That’s because engineers couldn’t properly assess the condition of the bridge before taking off the decking. Another issue is the weight of scaffolding, which has to be installed in phases.

Cllr Plowden added: “The reason this work is taking longer than first expected is because when we took off all the decking, to reveal the full structure, we found it was in a far worse state of repair than we thought. This means we need to do the repairs in phases so as not to put too much pressure on it, as it could fail.

“So far, we have repaired the newer section of the bridge, which goes over Cumberland Road, and have repaired and reinstalled all the bridge’s overhead beams. Work has now started on span one, which goes over the Chocolate Path and Heritage Railway, and we are gearing up to start work on span three, which is at the other end of the bridge. This is to make sure we have stabilised the bridge at both ends before we work on the middle of the bridge over the river.”