Engineers repairing a broken bridge in Bristol over the Avon have been told they “should preserve bomb damage” from the Second World War. The Vauxhall Bridge was closed last October and over the next three years will be painstakingly repaired bit by bit.
The footbridge crosses the New Cut and connects Southville to Spike Island, and was often busy with commuters before its closure. Because of its “very poor structural condition”, contractors are carrying out work in separate phases, to avoid overloading the bridge with too much scaffolding.
Bristol City Council is repairing rather than replacing the Vauxhall Bridge because it’s a Grade-II listed structure, deemed to be important architectural heritage. And now heaping further delays onto the work, a government adviser is “insisting bomb damage on the bridge is kept”.
During a member forum on Tuesday, October 8, Labour Councillor Kye Dudd said: “It was reported to the harbour committee a few weeks ago that they [Historic England] are insisting the World War Two bomb damage on the bridge is kept, as part of the project. I thought that was taking things just a little bit too far.
“It’s a complicated project anyway. There was another bridge project, the Iron Bridge in Kingsweston, that was delayed for years and years. One of the big factors was Historic England’s involvement in that project.”
The Kingsweston Iron Bridge closed in 2015 after suffering damage from a lorry driving underneath. After repairs, the council reopened the bridge in April this year. A drawn-out row over plans for a new disabled access ramp delayed the project, which was ultimately not built.
Green Cllr Ed Plowden, chair of the transport policy committee, said: “That’s actually news to me and I’m going to act on it. I’ve found Historic England over the last few years have become much better than they were. They were very, very absolutist. I would be delighted to contact them and work with officers to try and get a sensible solution.”
Councillors were later told after the meeting that preserving the bomb damage has “no significant impact on the project as a whole”. But Green Cllr Patrick McAllister, vice-chair of the harbour committee and representing Hotwells and Harbourside, said it was “frustrating”.
He said: “While it’s frustrating that we are putting effort into preserving newly discovered damage caused by the Nazis, it seems that the overall impact is minor compared to the overall scale of the bridge restoration. I will continue monitoring this situation on the harbour committee and through officer updates to ensure the situation does not get out of hand.”