Clifton Suspension Bridge reopens after safety scare
Clifton Suspension Bridge has been reopened after being shut due to safety fears over the weekend.
The bridge was closed after a member of the public walking across the bridge noticed one of the 162 vertical wrought iron rods had cracked.
The fault, in a metre-high rod in the middle of the bridge on the north or up-stream side, was discovered at about 4pm on Saturday, prompting the bridge staff to call the police to close off the approach roads.
The road remained shut to pedestrians and traffic until midnight, when the footpath on the Southern side was reopened.
Engineers from the local office of international consultants Flint and Neill worked overnight with the bridge staff.
Shortly after 2pm on Sunday one lane of the bridge was reopened to traffic with temporary traffics lights in operation.
3 Comments
by Mike, Bristol
Monday, April 06 2009, 8:48AM
“Spot on, 'Who Knows' I reckon the muppet lives in a bed sit, on his own, and writing crap on here is the only way he can communicate with anyone.
A perfect example of 'Care in the Community' failing.”
by Who knows, and who cares
Sunday, April 05 2009, 8:32PM
“Wholetime Timewaster zooms in with another comment. Is he/she/it sitting at a computer screen flitting between tabs waiting for "Breaking News" to add to ? Oh hang that's me !
I think the reason WT did not spot this is he is busy making notes of number plates, tucked up warm in his anorak with his thermos.”
by Wholetime Timewaster, Bristol
Sunday, April 05 2009, 6:28PM
“That was very observant of that member of public to spot that fault, as when I'm crossing the bridge, I'm always looking at the spectacular views from the bridge, but never at the bridge structure itself.
One thing that strikes me about this report is that the Police managed to simply take control of the bridge, so why when events such as the Balloon Fiesta are on, why can't the Police be brought in the regulate the number of vehicles and pedestrians crossing the bridge, so that it never become overwhelmed.
People living in and around Clifton could then easily walk to Ashton Court, rather than having to pile in cars to drive the long way round via Hotwells and the Cumberland basin system, which becomes horrendously jammed whenever the Balloon Fiesta (and similar events) are on at Ashton Court.
Having to use vehicles pumps an awful lot of CO2 into the atmosphere, which would otherwise not happen if the bridge operators had the common-sense to regulate the flow across the bridge.
Football grounds can do it, as can many other venues that restrict public movement, so why not the Suspension Bridge operators?”