Hammersmith Bridge shut due to heatwave cracks

Grant Prior 4 years ago
Share

Hammersmith Bridge was closed completely yesterday after engineers found cracks in the crossing had widened during the heatwave.

The bridge was closed to motorists in April 2019 after faults were found in the cast iron casing.

Now the 133-year-old bridge has also been closed to pedestrians and cyclists following ongoing monitoring by specialist engineers.

Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, said: “Safety is the number one priority.

“I’m absolutely sure that we averted a catastrophe by closing this 19th century suspension bridge to motor vehicles last year.

“We have some of the best engineers in the world working on this scheme. They advise we now face a similar dilemma.

“I appreciate how inconvenient this will be to thousands of people on both sides of the river and I am sorry about that, but we must follow the engineers’ advice which is why the bridge will be closed with immediate effect.

“We will update everyone as soon as engineers have investigated the scale of the recent damage. I have instructed them to find a plan to safely reopen it as quickly as they can.”

Hammersmith Bridge and the heat

Hammersmith Bridge is a cast iron structure designed and built by Sir Joseph Bazalgette.

Cllr Cowan said: “The micro-fractures were only discovered because in 2014, I commissioned a comprehensive structural integrity review of all aspects of the bridge’s suspension structure which began in 2015. That was the first such review in decades.

“The bridge had been badly maintained for many years. The structural integrity review quickly began to find decades of unchecked corrosion riddled throughout.

“It found that important mechanisms on the bridge had seized up years earlier causing the suspension structure to cease to operate as it had been designed to – causing other problems elsewhere in the machinery.

“Last year, using the latest technology, it discovered dangerous micro-fractures in the cast iron pedestals that hold the suspension structure in place.”

“These unchecked structural failures compromised the flexibility of the suspension chains over previous years and caused the micro fractures.”

During the recent heatwave contractors have done everything they can to reduce the temperature of the bridge – including hosing down the bridge pedestals and chains with cold water.

Specifically, the suspension chains are affected by extreme temperature changes. This past weekend when we experienced heat above 30 degrees, engineers worked around the clock to cool the chains and the foundation pedestals to prevent the bridge from failing.

Latest news

Credit insurance saves Billington from ISG hit

Steel specialist puts on extra shifts at its plants to cope with demand
2 hours ago

M&E specialist Dodd doubles profit on retrofit surge

Family-owned Telford specialist delivers record revenue of nearly £250m
1 hour ago

Go-ahead for 800-home Croydon dual towers

One Lansdowne Road build to rent scheme to cost £260m to build
2 hours ago

Construction inflation set to return raising tender prices

End of 2024 to mark the bottom of present inflationary trough
2 hours ago

Start date for vast Balfour and Costain carbon capture power job

£4bn Teesside project to start construction next year creating 3,000 jobs
18 hours ago

Plans go in to start revamp of North Finchley town centre

Developer Regal unveils first details of Barnet masterplan
2 hours ago

Glencar bags £18m Big Yellow London store

Six-storey stoarage centre to be built at Staples Corner
53 mins ago

Plan unveiled for 31-storey London Fenchurch Street tower

Demolition work to start in 2026 for new office tower
1 day ago

Vinci Building buys tower cranes for first time

Contractor invests in two WOLFFKRAN all-electric cranes at £138m Sheffield site
1 day ago

30 local firms land United Utilities £500m framework

Minor works deal win for North West civils and M&E specialists
1 day ago

Restructure pays off as Higgins returns to profit

Housing contractor recovers from £25.9m loss last year
1 day ago

Former Heathrow boss joins Mace in board rejig

Firm completes string NED appointments to expanded group board
2 days ago

Planning officers to get powers to bypass committee stage for housing

Rayner reform plan to cut out local council planning committees
2 days ago

National Insurance hike to delay construction recovery

Arcadis paints varied picture with full recovery delayed until 2026
2 days ago

Gratte Bros rides out cost rises with profit increase

M&E specialist warns of further upward pressure on wage costs
2 days ago

Sellar’s 36-storey London City office tower approved

Demolition work to start in 2026 at 60 Gracechurch Street site
4 days ago

Roofers caught using phone lights to work at night

Roofing boss handed suspended prison sentence for lack of edge protection
2 days ago

£380m North West housing framework out for bid

St Helens-based Torus aims to build 9,000 homes by 2029
2 days ago

Historic property magazine to close

Estates Gazette has been in business since 1858
5 days ago

M&S Marble Arch rebuild approved after three-year planning fight

Plans were delayed when Michael Gove backed carbon campaigners
6 days ago

£191m revamp funding approved for London Barbican Centre

Construction to start in 2027 on five-year programme
5 days ago

RED Construction tops £100m turnover

Builder maintains profit margin at 1.7% as business nearly doubles in size
5 days ago

Timber designs shortlisted for roads ‘footbridge of the future’

Three of five designs for National Highways propose timber structures over busy highways
5 days ago

PM pledges to fast-track 150 infrastructure schemes

Fresh promise to speed up planning decisions on infrastructure and house building
6 days ago

Amey FM firm fined after legionella kills prisoner

Court fines company £600,000 for prison upkeep failures
5 days ago

Buyers report boom in commercial work

Construction bucks slowdown in general economy
6 days ago

Plans in for £250m Stockport 8 housing-led scheme

Work to start on phase 1 by the end of next year
6 days ago

Galliford Try tops monthly contracts league

Contract awards slow down in November
6 days ago

Erith explosives set demolition record at Sizewell

Watch blast at former nuclear turbine hall: Video
6 days ago

Vistry to build 950 homes next to Olympic Park

Developer signed for £600m Pudding Mill Lane scheme in East London
6 days ago

Contractor services