Hope for cash for Hammersmith Bridge repair

Published: Wednesday, 19 May 2021

IT WAS back in August 2020 that cracks were discovered in Hammersmith Bridge and Thames navigation was closed.

But with a cost of £140 millions to repair, its owners, Hammersmith & Fulham Council, were not in a position to meet such a bill and are wrangling with the government, with Richmond Council too calling on the government to undertake a repair.

HammersmithBridgeCrack worsened

An inspection at the time revealed that an existing crack had worsened over the previous week, that engineers believe was due to the extreme heat conditions London had experienced at that time.

The outcome of which was the complete closure of Hammersmith Bridge to both river and bridge traffic, even walkers or cyclists are not allowed to cross and buoys stopping any navigation on the tidal river.

But now, to the relief of all concerned, Transport for London could fund the repair, with ministers giving the authority 10 days to agree to a long-term funding deal.