Forum Topic

Hammersmith Bridge “shut to traffic until 2027”

www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hammersmith-bridge-shut-to-traffic-until-2027-ferry-crossing-a4573392.html%3famp

Mark Perry ● 2191d30 Comments

That link doesn't work for me.

Richard Greenhough ● 2191d

Try copying and pasting this one:https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hammersmith-bridge-shut-to-traffic-until-2027-ferry-crossing-a4573392.html

Paul Scullion ● 2191d

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hammersmith-bridge-shut-to-traffic-until-2027-ferry-crossing-a4573392.html

Michael Robinson ● 2191d

Unbelievable.Oh well, at least the pandemic might be over by then.

Bruce Hammal ● 2191d

That link works, thanks. As I said previously, they ought to build a pedestrian tunnel like the one at Greenwich - they could have that operating a lot quicker than it seems they can get the bridge back in action.

Richard Greenhough ● 2191d

By then we might even be back in the EU and we could ask for Regional Fund monies to repair le pont d'ammersmith.

Ken Munn ● 2191d

They will never let us back in. They have seen just how thick the majority of voters are.

Steve Taylor ● 2191d

"They will never let us back in"Good.

Richard Greenhough ● 2191d

Finance is a massive stumbling block which will be very difficult to resolve as all the parties are effectively broke. A toll on the reopened bridge  is being suggested. How about this - since interest rates are effectively zero everywhere why not issue a peoples's bridge bond paying say 2% pa and with a term of 10 or even 20 years. Given how many people are looking for a safe home for their savings now that NS&I has left them high and dry, I'd bet such an offering would be oversubscribed several times. Warning: what I actually know about this stuff would fit on the back of a fag-packet, though I do have a few Premium Bonds.

Bruce Hammal ● 2191d

Squeaked Richard

Basil Finnis ● 2191d

The Hammersmith Bridge closure is also have a great effect on the Boat repair and building company’s from Brentford and others up stream.Old finished boats cannot leave to be returned to their owners  because they aren’t allowed to navigate under the bridge, and any new work cannot be taken on for the same reason.So now Tfl due to their utter stupidity have now put the Thames Boat Yards at risk of loosing work and going bust.I wonder how many boat owners have their boats trapped in the boats yards and cannot move them?

Bernard Allen ● 2191d

Should be taken down and a modern fit for purpose bridge built. The Chinese I estimate would take a year.

Chris Dakers ● 2191d

I agree. The bridge's traditional appearance could even be replicated as has been done with the Battersea power station chimneys if that was the concensus for its design. Just think of the money they'd get at the scrapyard for the old one.

Bruce Hammal ● 2191d

I don’t understand why a building being listed overrides the fact that on occasion the go past its useful life. You can keep patching it up but for what purpose? Take it down and design an almost identical replica but make it wider and higher. Make it fit for another 100 years plus not just the next 50. Would we be less culturally rich because of it?

Alex Brown ● 2191d

I think it's possible that this 2027 doomsday scenario is just to soften up the hardline conservationists  before they wheel out the real plan.

Bruce Hammal ● 2191d

Hear hear

Madeleine Hazard ● 2191d

Fully suport your contention. Bazalgette (the oriiginal engineering designer) would no doubt have been furious to see the state of his bridge as Victorians were known for their ruthlessness with the obsolete and their desire for the modern.

Gerald McGregor ● 2190d

It's time to let go.The bridge is dead. Keeping it on life support costs a fortune and no amount of money can stop old iron cracking.The only way to "keep" the bridge is to replace every single rivet  - in effect making a totally brand new bridge. But that will cost 20x building a proper new bridge.The current bridge was never fit for purpose anyway. It's too low for river traffic. The window to get under it severely limits the operation of river traffic.It's also not fit for purpose for the 20th Century - traffic is just too heavy.Let's build a glorious 21st Century Bridge on the Thames. It'll be cheaper, quicker, higher, wider - account for bikes, pedestrians, cars and buses. It'll be something that we can be proud of.

Richard Potts ● 2190d

Richard I couldn't agree more.

Adrian Irving ● 2190d

That gets my vote!  Hang the cycle lane beneath the motorised section - keep them segregated!  I have always loved that beautiful Hammersmith landmark - time to admit it's a relic and defunct.

Jennifer Selig ● 2190d

1. Dismantle the present listed bridge and re-site it up-river as a pedestrian and cycle-only access to Kew Gardens.2. Bore a pedestrian-only tunnel similar to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.3. Build a new bridge to a modern design for use by wheeled vehicles only, with a segregated lane for cyclists. 4. If you really want to create integrated transport in West & SouthWest London, extend the tramway from Wimbledon through Roehampton, Putney and Barnes and run it over the new bridge to a terminus in Hammersmith with pedestrian-only subway links to the tube and bus stations. Ah well, we can but dream.....

Richard Greenhough ● 2190d

Maybe someone in Hounslow Council should have a word in Baroness Charlotte Vere, (from the Department for Transport) ear, that the closure is having a detrimental effect on the Brentford Marine business.MSO marine have boats that have been in for refits and they cannot get them back to their owners as they cannot navigate under Hammersmith Bridge. I also assume that, they must be having trouble in getting new work because of the same problem.So it looks as though the Department for Transport are trying to wreck the boat building businesses on the Thames as well.

Bernard Allen ● 2190d

So no Oxford Cambridge Boat Race for a few years then?  Not on its historic Putney to Mortlake route anyway.

Philip Coe ● 2190d

You have to hand it to the Scots. When faced with a failing road bridge across the the Firth of Forth they began detailed technical discussions with potential contractor in 2010. In April 2011 they let the contract to a consortium of international contractors. The bridge opened in August 2017 (just over a year late!)The bridge is 1.7 kilometres long with a further 13.7 kilometres of new supporting roads.

Cllr Sam Hearn ● 2190d

So would you advocate Chiswick joining an independent Scotland, Sam ? A bit like "Passport to Pimlico" I guess. Except I really couldn't stomach being ruled by the fishy woman.

Richard Greenhough ● 2190d

'So now Tfl due to their utter stupidity have now put the Thames Boat Yards at risk of loosing work and going bust.'TfL has nothing to do with the closure of Hammersmith Bridge.

Ken Munn ● 2190d

Ken your splitting hairs.department for transport, TFL, Hammersmith and Fulham and even the PLA. In fact, the bridges across the Thames shouldn’t be the responsibility of the local council, as most governments keep reducing the amount they give them each year..As you seem to think that boat yards on the Thames are loosing business  over a road bridge is of no consequence. With all the relevant authorities not even  trying to find a solution, these old industries contribute a lot to LBOH in many’s ways and employs very experienced local people.Maybe Ruth Cadbury MP could intervene and lobby the government to provide a temporary fix to allow boats to navigate under Hammersmith Bridge safely.

Bernard Allen ● 2190d

Fully agree Bernard, these are wonderful local skills that would be sad to loose.A new bridge with more height would also mean that a clipper service would be viable upstream.As a matter of historical interest, to me anyway, is that Thornycrofts used to build torpedo boats in Chiswick but had to relocate as craft got larger and couldn't pass under Hammersmith Bridge.

Adrian Irving ● 2190d

"As you seem to think that boat yards on the Thames are loosing business  over a road bridge is of no consequence. "Where did I say, or even imply, that?

Ken Munn ● 2190d

I see mayor Khant has tweeted with seemingly no sense of irony that he is happy Biden has been elected so that we can now build bridges instead of walls.Maybe he should have a look at his remit and stick to his day job by starting to build or repair one the one in Hammersmith.

Keith Iddon ● 2180d