Hammersmith & Fulham Council has revealed plans for a temporary ferry service across the Thames near Hammersmith Bridge.
Three detailed proposals for a ferry boat service are actively under consideration, with officers from Hammersmith & Fulham, Richmond Council, Transport for London (TfL) and the Port of London Authority having already met potential operators for urgent talks.
The aim is to get a ferry operation in place by the end of October, with temporary walkways and pontoons, and the use of existing piers and landing sites, forming part of the plans.
The closure of the 133-year-old bridge to pedestrians and cyclists for safety reasons on 13 August has meant that residents on both sides of the river have had to make detours via Putney or Chiswick Bridge to get to schools.
Speaking of the planned service, Hammersmith and Fulham Council leader, cllr Stephen Cowan, said: “There are practical challenges to overcome with this, including the low tides and lack of suitable piers infrastructure, but if we can do this we will. We have also asked TfL to put on extra bus routes.”
Though specialist engineers – who’ve worked on the Golden Gate Bridge in California and oil rigs in the North Sea – have put together ‘shovel ready’ plans to fix the Grade II listed bridge, Hammersmith and Fulham Council conceded that those could take three to four years.
Cowan added: “It will cost £46m to stabilise it, which will make it safe for pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic. That work can be completed within nine months. It will cost up to £141m to fully restore the bridge so it can be reopened to buses and motor vehicles – a similar amount to building a new bridge. There’s a quicker option to fully restore Hammersmith Bridge but that would cost £163m.
“A temporary bridge suitable for pedestrians and cyclists would cost £27.3m. That would also take nine months to build but it wouldn’t solve the problems for river traffic. It costs £2.7m a year simply to stop additional and dangerous deterioration.”
Serious problems with the bridge were first detected after the council, in 2014, commissioned a Comprehensive Structural Integrity Review – the first such review in decades. Prior to that, only £250,000 had been spent touching up the decking and other minor works.
A Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, set up by the Department for Transport in September 2020 to work towards safely reopening the bridge, agreed a ferry service across the river would be the preferred transport solution to deliver a crossing for residents in the short-term, with the service in place by early next year.
Project director for the taskforce, Dana Skelley, said: “All other potential solutions, including a temporary bridge, remain under consideration to ensure the fastest possible resolution for those impacted by the closure of the bridge. The taskforce fully understands the complexity of the issues surrounding the pathway to a long-term solution.
“Work will now continue to urgently progress the temporary transport plans, and other work related to the bridge and river closure, with the taskforce due to reconvene next week where funding options will be discussed.”
The taskforce is chaired by Baroness Vere and includes representatives from TfL, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Network Rail, the Greater London Authority and the Port of London Authority.
