Hammersmith Bridge: Engineers

November 2020

Hammersmith Bridge engineering reports.

LBHF’s Double-decker Suggestion

In November 2020 Hammersmith and Fulham Council, in partnership with Foster and Partners and Sir John Ritblat of Delancey, proposed a temporary double-decker solution that would enable pedestrians and traffic to continue to use the bridge while the restoration work took place below. 

A temporary ‘double decker’ bridge within Hammersmith Bridge’s existing structure could be in place by 2022 and would allow pedestrians and cyclists to use a new lower deck and cars and buses to drive on the upper deck while the work continued below. The plan is being considered by the Taskforce.

The Engineers’ Reports

At the Taskforce’s November meeting, the Chair asked LBHF to consider revisiting the risk assessment and Case for Continued Safe Operation on the bridge following reports from its engineering consultants, AECOM and fracture mechanics and materials expert, Professor Norman Fleck of Cambridge University. They had been asked to review available information on the condition of the bridge and carry out further investigations and modelling.

The AECOM report concludes that the crack which caused the bridge to be closed ‘may not be as serious as previously thought’, that the decision to completely close the bridge may have been ‘overly conservative’, but recommends further inspections are carried out to all of the bridge’s pedestals before reopening to pedestrians and cyclists is considered. The Engineers’ Reports can be seen here.

The response of Steven Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, can be seen here.

The Taskforce

The Department of Transport (DfT) eventually took over the project and the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, chaired by Baroness Vere, Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department of Transport, first met on 16 September 2020. 

The Taskforce includes representatives of the local authorities affected, Transport for London (TfL), the Greater London Authority and the Port of London Authority. It is supported by engineers from DfT and Network Rail plus AECOM as external engineering consultants. Dana Skelley OBE was appointed Project Director to coordinate efforts to get the bridge reopened.

The terms of reference state the task force will focus urgently on pulling together ‘all necessary information, including technical and operational information and costs, in order to reach a decision on the most appropriate way to safely re-open Hammersmith Bridge to full use’ and ‘provide appropriate temporary measures during the works’.

The Taskforce publishes monthly reports of its meeting. Click here to see them.