Oxford City Council has announced a delay in works to reopen the Gasworks Pipe Bridge.

The bridge, which has been closed since March 2021 is now expected to reopen to the public in summer 2024.

The City Council appointed external designers and engineers to complete refurbishments to the bridge. The planned programme of works was expected to complete in September 2023.

However, the contractor subsequently reviewed the programme and concluded the bridge was too weak to support the proposed temporary scaffold structure.

An alternative temporary structure is now needed to allow the contractors to undertake the work. This new structure will need to sit lower to the water and take longer to erect and dismantle.

-- Advertisement --

This has led the Environment Agency, which is responsible for managing the river the bridge crosses, to ban the structure from being in place during the boating season. Postponing the work until November.

The City Council and contractor are currently attempting to come to an agreement with the Environment Agency to bring forward the start date to September when boating traffic is reduced.

Commenting on the delay, "I want to apologise for the continued disruption that local residents are facing, and for the delays to the construction programme. This has rightly caused much anger and frustration and the Council is extremely disappointed that this situation has arisen.

"Clearly, we have to put safety first, both for the public and for the contractors working to strengthen the bridge. However, where the Council does not have expertise in place, we seek it externally and it is disappointing that the solution recommended by our experts appears not to be workable, causing further delay in reopening the bridge. I have asked officers to work with the engineers and appointed contractors to work as swiftly as possible to get work started, and then get it finished. We will update the progress on this in September.

"Local councillors and I have also asked officers to look at where improvements can be made to the diversion routes ahead of the autumn."