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Design unveiled for £88m cycling and walking bridge from Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf

Bridge at point where new crossing desperately needed would open to allow ships to pass through

Plans have been unveiled for a pedestrian and cycling bridge across the River Thames in London linking Canary Wharf and Rotherhithe, with a ground-breaking design that also owes much to Tower Bridge, the next surface crossing upstream.

Like that iconic landmark, the proposed new bridge is based on a bascule design – it will open in the middle to allow ships to pass underneath – and according to the people behind the project, would be the longest such structure in the world.

At an estimated cost of £88 million, it wouldn't be cheap, although as the Guardian points out, that’s half the cost of the Garden Bridge championed by Joanna Lumley, and from which cycling would be banned.

Moreover, it links two parts of London that are increasingly in need of a river crossing as development around Canary Wharf continues, with many workers in the financial centre, also home to a sizeable shopping mall and a huge number of catering outlets, commuting there from south London.

While the counterweights for Tower Bridge are housed in the base of the two towers that give the structure its unique silhouette, those in the proposed Rotherhithe Bridge would instead be formed by the two masts.

“The result,” says Guardian architecture critic, Oliver Wainwright, “is an exceptionally lean structure, which looks like a pair of whale bones held in fine balance.”

 

The design is the work of architectural practice ReForm and engineering consultancy Elliott Wood, and would be at a point on the river where the Sustrans has been calling for a bridge for the best part of a decade.

The sustainable transport charity become aware of the design for the proposed bridge after being given £200,000 last year by Transport for London, British Land and Canary Wharf Group to undertake a feasibility study and has reportedly made it their preferred option.

- Thames cycling and walking bridge a step closer to becoming a reality

Nik Randall of ReForm said: “It’s a no-brainer. It has the potential to unlock journeys way beyond the surrounding area, encouraging people to cycle to work who might not ever have considered it before.”

ReForm and Elliott Ward are now looking for private investment to fund the scheme, with the Guardian noting that corporate sponsorship from one of the financial institutions housed at Canary Wharf would seem a realistic option.

Randall said: “It has been met with universal support and enthusiasm so far, although we’ve yet to secure any confirmed backers.”

It does have a degree of high-profile support, though. Mayor of London Boris Johnson has tweeted “still in negotiations but we love the scheme”, while the National Infrastructure Plan developed by Chancellor George Osborne last year says it is “an interesting proposal and worth looking at in more detail.”

- Government says cycling bridge across Thames to Canary Wharf "worth looking at"

Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon told the Guardian: “A pedestrian and cycling bridge linking Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf would provide a vital link where at present there is a total lack of adequate provision for pedestrians and cyclists.”

”Unlike the Garden Bridge this is a bridge that is desperately needed and where public money should be spent.

“I also welcome interest from architects in designing a new bridge, however it is vital that unlike the Garden Bridge the design contract is only awarded after a fully open and fair competitive procurement process.”

- Boost to Garden Bridge plans as Lambeth resumes talks after TfL reduces funding

As Wainwright points out in his article, the procurement process over the Garden Bridge was a controversial one, with the winning design apparently picked before tenders had even been received.

However, Randall acknowledges that in the event that public money was required to build his bridge, a full and open public procurement process might put his firm at a disadvantage.

“If it went through a public procurement route, we very much hope we would be eligible to enter, but smaller practices are excluded from this kind of thing all the time,” he explained.

 “EU procurement rules are based on the fears of the people being audited about the process, rather than what the physical result of the process will be. It so often precludes people with better ideas, which stifles innovation and new faces.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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14 comments

Avatar
Bob's Bikes | 8 years ago
0 likes

Of course it's not going to happen, it's far to practical, needed and useful. No no no lets just waste peoples money on a bridge that nobody but the top ten percentile (finance) will use.

Avatar
OldRidgeback | 8 years ago
1 like

Yes, this is a good idea and much needed, unlike the ego boosting and utterly useless and expensive garden bridge.

Avatar
Dnnnnnn | 8 years ago
2 likes

The crush on peak time Jubilee Line tubes from Canada Water to Canary Wharf (the only practical way to cross the river around there) suggests that this might be a good idea. At the moment, cycling to Canary Wharf from large parts of South London means detouring via Tower Bridge or the Greenwich foot tunnel. Neither is very cycle-friendly (or direct, for most).

Avatar
commonsensehuman | 8 years ago
0 likes

Why do the photos only show the bridge from a southern aspect ?

Avatar
danthomascyclist | 8 years ago
2 likes

But what about the terrorist threat? 

Avatar
ron611087 | 8 years ago
1 like

Great, and another great thing about a pedestrian/cycle bridge is that not being a target for cars means that all the access routes to the bridge carry less traffic. This is my experience with the Greenwich foot tunnel anyway.

Avatar
Lungsofa74yearold | 8 years ago
3 likes

Ramps up either side are a tad steep  (def need a triple to get up that) and a big gap in the middle. 5/10 - must try harder

Avatar
DaveE128 replied to Lungsofa74yearold | 8 years ago
3 likes

Looks fantastic. Certainly seems far more worthwhile and far better value than the garden bridge idea.

pastaman wrote:

Ramps up either side are a tad steep  (def need a triple to get up that) and a big gap in the middle. 5/10 - must try harder

Nah, if you're riding up that in the granny ring, you'll never make the gap...

Avatar
bikebot | 8 years ago
2 likes

I thought this was going to be horrible, it had always been described as some sort of "curly wurly" thing.  Instead we get this, which I think might be the nicest looking bridge over the Thames. Good job.

Avatar
jollygoodvelo replied to bikebot | 8 years ago
0 likes

bikebot wrote:

I thought this was going to be horrible, it had always been described as some sort of "curly wurly" thing.  Instead we get this, which I think might be the nicest looking bridge over the Thames. Good job.

Are you confusing it with some of the Nine Elms / Pimlico bridge proposals?  Some of those were very curly-wurly.

Avatar
bikebot replied to jollygoodvelo | 8 years ago
0 likes

Gizmo_ wrote:

bikebot wrote:

I thought this was going to be horrible, it had always been described as some sort of "curly wurly" thing.  Instead we get this, which I think might be the nicest looking bridge over the Thames. Good job.

Are you confusing it with some of the Nine Elms / Pimlico bridge proposals?  Some of those were very curly-wurly.

No, it was Boris who referred to this one as curly wurly as well when it was first mooted. 

The proposal has been around for almost a decade, this is the sort of thing they were considering in the early days.  Isn't it hideous?

//www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/thames450_450x320.jpg)

src for that image - http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2009/02/09/no-to-the-rotherhithe-canary-...

And another report with the same design, from just a few months ago  - http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/local-news/canary-wharf-cycle-bridge-takes-9...

Avatar
jollygoodvelo replied to bikebot | 8 years ago
1 like

bikebot wrote:

No, it was Boris who referred to this one as curly wurly as well when it was first mooted. 

The proposal has been around for almost a decade, this is the sort of thing they were considering in the early days.  Isn't it hideous?

//www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/thames450_450x320.jpg)

src for that image - http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2009/02/09/no-to-the-rotherhithe-canary-...

And another report with the same design, from just a few months ago  - http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/local-news/canary-wharf-cycle-bridge-takes-9...

Ah, that one.  I see.

 

I actually quite like that, but then I like brutalist architecture  4

Avatar
jollygoodvelo | 8 years ago
2 likes

Fantastic.  Love the design, love the engineering, the location is badly needed especially with the growth plans for Canada Water and the Wharf over the next few years (including Crossrail).

 

Get it built, Sustrans, pronto, and I'll never moan about a gravelled shared-use path that's inaccessible to non-standard bikes again.

Avatar
ibike | 8 years ago
7 likes

Looks great. An actual bridge where it's needed that will be useful for thousands of Londoners. And it's beautiful to boot.

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