Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce meeting, 17 December 2020

The tenth meeting of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce was held yesterday, 17 December 2020.

It was chaired by Transport Minister, Baroness Vere. Attendees included the Project Director Dana Skelley plus representatives from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, the Greater London Authority, Transport for London (TfL), and the Port of London Authority.

Dana Skelley, speaking on behalf of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, said:

At yesterday’s taskforce we were glad to be joined by Sir John Ritblat and representatives from Fosters & Partners and COWI who presented their proposal for a temporary bridge, involving laying a truss over the existing bridge structure. We agreed to explore the proposal in more detail.

Following the publication last week of DfT-commissioned reports by consultants AECOM and Professor Norman Fleck, taskforce members discussed the reports’ conclusions and recommendations. We look forward to the completion of a report by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham’s consultants’ Mott MacDonald, and of the blast cleaning of the bridge’s two western pedestals.

The taskforce was also pleased to confirm that, starting 20 December, Sundays will be a regular day when river users can schedule transits under the bridge, under certain controlled conditions.

Finally, the taskforce reaffirmed its commitment to restoring the Bridge to full use – to all forms of traffic including motor traffic.

The taskforce agreed to meet again in the new year.

The Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce was set up by the Department for Transport in September 2020 to work towards safely reopening the Hammersmith Bridge. 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.