Garden Bridge firms up construction plans

Work on Thomas Heatherwick’s Garden Bridge is now expected to start next summer.

The Garden Bridge Trust – the charity behind the £175 million scheme – has said that it will take less than 32 months to build.

A series of planning conditions were imposed by Lambeth and Westminster councils when they gave it the green light last year – and this week a number were cleared by Lambeth council including the construction logistics plan which will see a one third reduction in the number of road journeys required to build the bridge.

The main structure of the bridge deck will be manufactured off-site in Italy by steelwork contractor Cimolai, shipped to the UK and then brought up the Thames to the Garden Bridge site by barge.

Preparatory works are scheduled to begin next spring with the moving of the HQS Wellington to its new location about 100m downstream, to provide access to the northern landing. Main construction work, which will be carried out by Cimolai and French firm Bouygues, will start in the summer for a 2018 opening.

Garden Bridge Trust executive director Bee Emmott said: “We are working closely with Lambeth and Westminster Councils to discharge our planning obligations and to get the site ready for construction next year.”