OPINION - The Standard View: The Hammersmith Bridge saga has become an international embarrassment

Embarrassing, humiliating, a microcosm of why we can’t get anything built in this country. Pick your howl of anguish then treble it: this is the story of Hammersmith Bridge. The crossing was shut in April 2019 by Hammersmith and Fulham council after safety sensors detected “dangerous micro-fractures” in the cast-iron pedestals that hold the suspension system in place. It reopened to cyclists and pedestrians in July 2021, but drivers have had no choice but to divert to Chiswick or Putney.