Hammersmith Bridge to reopen to cyclists and pedestrians after 11 months
The 134-year-old crossing is still closed to cars.
Hammersmith Bridge is set to open this weekend for pedestrians and cyclists after being completely shut in August.
The 134-year-old crossing had been closed to motorists since April 2019 due to ‘critical faults’ in its cast-iron casing were found by safety sensors.
But in August last year it had to be closed to pedestrians and cyclists as well after a heatwave caused cracks on the bridge to expand.
Engineers have now given the green-light for west London crossing to reopen thanks to a system that helps control its temperature.
It will be a huge relief to commuters, as around 12,000 pedestrians and 4,000 cyclists used the bridge before.
Council bosses in Hammersmith and its neighbour across the river, Richmond Upon Thames, were both considering a passenger ferry service to get people across.
From Saturday, boats will be allowed to pass underneath it also, the BBC reports.
A report prepared for Hammersmith Council said: ‘The risk of further cracking is now known to be very low, and any that may occur are very unlikely to prompt rapid crack growth due to the now demonstrably stable condition of the bridge structure.
‘The application of a permanent solution remains a priority. Without a funded plan for repair, the limited current use must cease eventually.
‘It is not acceptable in managing safety risk to rely upon interim measures indefinitely.’
A dispute over who is going to pay for the repairs is ongoing between the Tory Government, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan – who heads Transport for London (TfL) – and Hammersmith’s Labour council, who own the bridge.
Last month, the Government said it would only pay a third of the costs, which are expected to exceed £100million.
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