Sponsored by Farvis Ltd
on behalf of the
Swivel Bridge Restoration Committee
and with assistance from the Clifton and Hotwells Improvement Society
BRUNEL'S SWIVEL BRIDGE
CUMBERLAND BASIN, BRISTOL
Brunel's swivel bridge.
Few people know that this is one of the engineer's designs.
A tribute to the designer, the bridge structure is in relatively good condition - and should be relatively easy to restore.
DETAILED HISTORY & AUTHENTICATION
Brunel designed this wrought iron tubular swing bridge which now rests beside the Howard lock. It is unused but preserved in situ. Brunel was a pioneer of tubular bridge construction and the design served well on much larger structures like the Saltash bridge on the Devon/Cornwall border. However this is NOT the first wrought iron tubular bridge!
Brunel built two similar tube bridges in 1849, one over his
own lock, and one over Jessop's original. The scheme for Thomas
Howard’s new lock involved the filling in of Jessop's remaining lock and moving
one of the Brunel bridges to the Bathhurst entrance lock where it remained in
use until replaced by the present one in the 20th Century. Local
history has it that the bridge was placed on a series of rollers and trolleys
and dragged the full length of Cumberland Road by a team of horses! Bathhurst Basin is
the dock area beside the General Hospital where the old wooden light vessel is
moored - the junction with the Floating Harbour is opposite M.V. 'Thekla'.
As part of Howard’s scheme it was intended to convert the Brunel Lock into a
public graving dock (dry dock - the word graving means scraping - a dock where
barnacles and weed could be removed from a ship's hull) and not to have a
bridge, so the remaining Brunel bridge - technically known as a swivel bridge -
was shortened and moved to its present position over the Howard lock.
Brunel's entrance was then taken out of service and a wooden bridge placed
across it, but in the June 1874 the Masters of steam vessels successfully
petitioned for it to be kept open as a second means of entrance. A replica of
Brunel’s bridge was ordered to replace the fixed wooden structure and the lock
reopened on August 1876. It is unlikely that this was done for aesthetic
reasons - the probable reason was that Brunel's design was the best solution
available!
It's all there - even the gates are still in place and the bridge is as pedestrian, disabled and cycle friendly as any modern structure. This little bridge is crying out for restoration to form part of the Bristol sustainable transport system.
What a useful, worthwhile and environmental project for Brunel's 200th anniversary.
Restoration of the bridge would have major benefits for pedestrian, cycle and disabled access - which is currently only possible if you can carry your cycle down the steps!
Currently disabled access is not possible due to the design of the walkways over the lock gates. Further, at certain times when the tide is high, the lock gates have to be opened to equalise pressure in Cumberland Basin and this can happen without warning if the 'fall open' as the water levels on both sides become equal. Obviously pedestrians are kept off the walkways at these times, but it can be over an hour before the gates can be closed and the walkway reopened. When there is a high tide, a set of huge stop gates in Junction Lock prevent the water flooding into the City Docks and overflowing into Bristol! There is a second set of stop gates at the top of the Feeder Canal that prevent water entering from the New Cut.
THE FUTURE
The bridge that was moved to Howard's lock was converted from manual to hydraulic operation and was overhauled before it was taken out of service in 1968. However there is every chance that it could be preserved and made to function again. To quote former City Docks Engineer, David Neale, (who discovered the true history of the bridge and saved it from being scrapped) .
One of the actuating rams and rope mechanism installed when the bridge was moved to its present location.
The hydraulic rams will probably have corroded and can be made better than new by rough machining, re-surfacing with spray-applied stainless steel and grinding to precise tolerance. The valve gear should be satisfactory if lubricated. Turning cables may need renewal. The nose-end abutment cam gear, now lying on the bridge deck, will need overhaul and installation and road gates re-activated (or possibly replaced). The balance of the bridge may have been upset by recent conservation work and should be checked and adjusted. Tail end wheels and roller path will need checking over and lubrication. All hydraulic packings should be replaced. A system of navigation lights will need to be agreed with Trinity House and installed. There will be a staffing and cost implication in its ongoing operation and maintenance that will need to be assessed by the Dockmaster and Engineer.
We can but hope that this largely unrecognized piece of Brunel's history will once again be restored and returned to operation. Only time will tell, but a project is beginning to get under way at the time of writing ( Feb 2006 ) to put the bridge back into service as part of a sustainable transport link and to provide a pedestrian link to Ashton Court, safeguarding the Suspension Bridge which has to be closed at times of heavy foot traffic to preserve the structure.
A panorama of the three locks and swivel bridge taken from the 'new' swing bridge. In the background is Hotwells, and above Clifton and the Suspension Bridge. The photograph contrasts Brunel's abilities to design both a functional masonry lock, a magnificent and breathtaking iron structure and a utilitarian little bridge, all of which have outlasted later creations.
What is where?
Brunel's lock in the foreground - this is where the swivel bridge was first installed. This lock now has a fixed 'replica' bridge spanning the entrance and the lock is disused.
The original Jessop Lock is in the centre - under the tarmac behind the hut! It is now filled in. To the left and behind the white hut is the 'grid iron' - the channel was once the entrance to the Jessop Lock. A sister bridge to the preserved swivel bridge was installed here but later moved to Bathurst Basin and scrapped in the early 20th Century.
The Howard lock is now the working lock for Bristol Docks and is furthest away from the camera. You can see the white tops of the lock gates ( caissoons ) and walkways. The swivel bridge was moved here in 1873 and decommissioned in 1968.
Thus the tubular bridge we now have beside the current working lock and next to the 'new' 1960's swing road bridge is the 1849 bridge that was originally in place over the Brunel Lock but was then moved to the new position in 1873 while a replica was installed in the place where it had originally been in 1876. Meanwhile the bridge that had been over the first entrance lock was moved up to Bathurst Basin in 1873. Puzzled ? It's not really surprising !
FARVIS
David Neale's proposal for incorporation of the historic bridge into a sustainable transport scheme to provide pedestrian, cycle and disabled access while taking the load from the Suspension Bridge at peak times.
C David Neale
FARVIS
Our thanks to David Neale for providing a fascinating account of the history of
the locks and bridges for which as Docks Engineer he was responsible for many
years.
The authors in conjunction with Clifton & Hotwells Improvement Society and W. J. Farvis & Sons Ltd ( who host this web site and are likely to have worked on the original ironwork of these structures ! ) are involved in a restoration project which aims to return the Swivel Bridge to operation as part of the 200 anniversary celebrations of Brunel's birth in 1806. The aim is to provide a pedestrian link to Ashton Park and to restore the bridge not as a working relic but as a fully integrated link in a sustainable transport infrastructure - just as Brunel intended.
c Ross Floyd & David Neale
Photographs : c Ross Floyd
2006
Copyright - this text and photographs may be freely used for publicity relating directly to the restoration of the swivel bridge project subject to acknowledgement of the source and the web address.