Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Firm working on bridge refurbishment goes bust
THE future of a £3 million refurbishment of one of the main bridges into Bristol city centre is in doubt after the company given the job went into administration.
Cleveland Bridge, which helped build the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Wembley Arch in its illustrious history, had been repairing and restoring the Redcliffe Bascule Bridge in a project which Bristol City Council had earmarked £3 million towards.
The administration of the 144-year-old Darlington-based company has put hundreds of jobs at risk, amid reports in the trade press that it had been struggling to pay sub-contractors and suppliers.
Until June 30 the council had paid four instalments – totalling £669,627.33 – to Cleveland Bridge for the project this year.
The 80-year-old bascule bridge had been closed on certain days over the summer already, and a planned ten-week-long closure of the bridge had been due to begin in August. The opening mechanism hasn’t been fully operational since 2015.
Bristol City Council said that is now likely to be delayed, but they are still trying to assess the impact of the news on the bridge project, which happened at a point in the project that the bridge was still open to traffic.
The council said it “regrets to announce” that there are likely to be delays to the project.
It is unclear if it will mean the taxpayer ultimately footing a bigger bill for the repair of the bridge.
“The council was informed of this news yesterday and is waiting to find out more detail to determine the impacts on the project and other companies involved with the works,” a spokesperson said.
“It was with regret that we received the news that Cleveland Bridge is entering administration this week. The company has been doing an excellent job so far on the project, which was running smoothly and on schedule,” she added.
The bridge, which connects Redcliffe with the Old City and Queen Square area of the city centre, is a major bus route in from south of the river. The closure was due to mean the reopening of Bristol Bridge to private vehicles, but now there is uncertainty over what will happen next.
“We appreciate the news will result in much uncertainty for the other companies and subcontractors involved with the works, as well as businesses and residents based around the bridge,” said the council spokesperson.
“We are moving swiftly to put contingency plans in action that will enable the works to continue, but it is inevitable there will now be delays to the project.
“The planned ten-week closure of Redcliffe Bridge to all users that was due to start in August is also likely to be delayed. We will provide updates and clarity on the project as soon as possible.”