Dukes Meadows Footbridge is a

pedestrian bridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

under construction in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

that will allow the

Thames Path The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from its source near Kemble, Gloucestershire, Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel, south east London. It is about long. A path was first proposed in 1948 but it onl ...

on the north bank at

Dukes Meadows Dukes Meadows is a riverside park in Chiswick, London. The land was bought by the council in 1923, and the park was opened in 1926. It is cared for by the Dukes Meadows Trust. The area is home to the Chiswick Farmers' Market, which helps to pay ...

to follow the river without diversion.

Requirement

Before the bridge was constructed, people using the

on the north bank of the River Thames at

, Chiswick were unable to cross the line of the railway near the river. Instead, it diverted some 300 metres northwestwards to the nearest tunnel under the railway embankment. It left the river to run parallel to the railway along The Promenade by the railway's eastern side, returning parallel to the railway on Dan Mason Drive by the railway's western side. The footbridge will connect the Thames Path on either side of the railway, allowing the path to follow the river without diversion, and in the words of the London Borough of Hounslow's report ''Duke's Meadows Regeneration'', "removing a frustrating dog-leg along the scenic walking and cycling route." Because

Barnes Railway Bridge Barnes Railway Bridge is a Grade II listed railway bridge in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the London Borough of Hounslow. It crosses the River Thames in London in a northwest to southeast direction at Barnes. It carries the S ...

is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

historic structure, it could not be used as a support, so the footbridge was required to have its own independent support structures, with the footway passing below the northern span of the railway bridge. The bridge is to be open to pedestrians and to users of

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

mobility scooter A mobility scooter is an electric vehicle and mobility aid mostly auxiliary to a power wheelchair but configured like a motorscooter. When motorized they are commonly referred to as a power-operated vehicle/scooter, or electric scooter. Non-mot ...

s and

pushchairs Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks ...

Design

File:Site of Dukes Meadows Footbridge.jpg, Site of the downstream, eastern end of the footbridge, below Barnes Railway Bridge, August 2021, before piling work began File:Pump and Pilings for Thames Path footbridge pier under Barnes Railway Bridge.jpg, Pump and pilings for downstream pier, April 2022 File:Footings for Dukes Meadows Footbridge.jpg, Bridge footings steelwork in place, June 2022 File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge footings, digging from Barnes.jpg, Footings, digging, July 2022 File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge footings, digging from downstream.jpg, Footings, digging seen from downstream, July 2022 File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge newly-cast concrete footings.jpg, Newly-cast concrete footings The bridge was designed by Moxon Architects as a "half through" truss structure. The diagonal braces are angled to allow people on the bridge to see the river as much as possible while crossing. The part of the footway in line with the river is supported by two cylindrical piers in the riverbed, one upstream and one downstream of the existing railway bridge. The west and east approaches are supported between those piers and two end piers on the riverbank. The piers are cylinders of steel-reinforced concrete. The footway structure is of

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

and

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

. Planning permission for the design was granted early in 2019, with strong local support. CampbellReith served as consulting engineers for the bridge's structural, geotechnical, environmental, and

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

. Marine engineering was provided by Marmus, and

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

by Slender Winter Partnership. Environmental consultancy was by Thomson.

Construction

File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge main span in place from Barnes Railway Bridge.jpg, Main span in place, seen from Barnes Railway Bridge File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge - main span in place.jpg, Main span in place, seen from across the river File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge downstream end - main span in place.jpg, Main span end detail, July 2022 File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge - ramp span in place.jpg, Ramp span in place, August 2022 File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge - Crane lowering ramp span into place.jpg, Crane lowering ramp span into place File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge - welding ramp span to main span.jpg, Welding ramp span to main span File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge - Downstream ramp lowered into position.jpg, Downstream ramp lowered into position File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge - Welding the Ramp Span to the Main Span.webm, Welding the ramp span to main span File:Dukes Meadows Footbridge west span ready to fit.jpg, West span ready to fit Construction was by Knights Brown.

Project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. Th ...

and

quantity surveying A quantity surveyor (QS) is a construction industry professional with expert knowledge on construction costs and contracts. Qualified professional quantity surveyors are known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) in the UK and Cer ...

was by Currie & Brown. The diagonals for the main span, originally designed as solid struts, are hollow, reducing material usage and lightening the structure. The main span of the bridge was floated in at high tide on pontoons in July 2022; it was designed to settle into position on its footings when the tide went down. The bridge is planned to be completed in 2022.

References

External links

{{Chiswick Pedestrian bridges in London Buildings and structures in Chiswick