Hammersmith Bridge is open again

The Guardian has done two stories (oddly enough, that Valentine's thing doesn't seem to have been covered in the Standard, or at least I can't find it on their web-site--perhaps it interferes a bit too much with the politics):

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/14/hammersmith-bridge-illuminated-red-in-valentines-message-to-government

A more general piece on London bridges:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/14/london-bridges-are-falling-down-how-politics-has-failed-the-capitals-crossings

Simple solution;
find two long, out of service roro ferries.
A bit of work on either bank to build suitable jetties/linkspans.
Wedge the roros between the jetties/linkspans.
Vehicles drive through the two roros.

Everyone's happy, a 'bridge' and a 'ferry'.

I’m not so sure - it’s got a financial backer, who has a background in venture capital (I think) and seems very keen. I think the risk is more that, in the absence of someone pushing the better route, this is let through because of the public clamour for something to happen

https://twitter.com/jamiebwaller/status/1359005717764726785?s=20

Well, who knows. Perhaps it's the only option to run it from there, but it will need planning permission, and there may well be material reasons against granting that. I'm afraid I don't know what planning issues may arise for a river crossing. I still think the plan with the temporary decks seems to be the best option by some distance.

Here's a new article. I'm glad to read that the temporary double-decker bridge plan is still under consideration, as I think it's the best idea.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hammersmith-bridge-cost-motorist-3-pounds-double-decker-thames-crossing-b925098.html

Still, it's ridiculous that the Government refuses to fund the repairs.

More on the double decker plan here:
https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/articles/news/2021/03/study-double-decker-proposal-concludes-hammersmith-bridge-could-re-open-pedestrians-next-summer?dm_i=BGN,7AKFQ,1LO53J,TKU9I,1

They'll have to lower the road for the bottom deck. The height isn't there otherwise, esp for double deck buses.
It had two problematic narrowing at the towers too.

I thought this looking at it the other week. A double decker just fits under now, how are they going to add another level. But I suppose as you say, they must be planning to add a lower deck

Can they lower the road?
What about boats?

I realise the current bridge is historic but has anyone priced up removing it and building something that works?

lol

They could put the old one over a lake in the US

Nothing's happened, so let's have another article:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/grant-shapps-must-act-hammersmith-bridge-closure-b929604.html

A few things have happened Oliver
https://www.cityam.com/uber-chosen-by-tfl-to-run-hammersmith-bridge-ferry-service/
And the local MP wrote a good piece

Bridge

The original Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1827.

News last week that a contract had been awarded to run a ferry
alongside Hammersmith Bridge from later this year was a step forward,
but it felt like a leap back in time. The ferry will start to run
from ‘the end of the summer’, operate between 6am and 10pm weekdays,
take eight hundred passengers an hour, including cyclists, and use the
hopper/oyster card system to collect fares. Further details are
awaited of the works that need to be done to allow safe boarding and
disembarking, and how much it will cost to set up and run. As the
Standard observed, if you put eight ferry boats in a line we could
walk across. A little black humour is allowable as on Saturday we
enter the third year since the initial closure to motor traffic with
no sign of substantive works to the Bridge itself. The first Bridge
opened in 1827 because the ferry from Chiswick Mall was considered
antiquated. What a farce that two centuries later so much time and
effort is going into…a new ferry. I know there is a lot of sniping
and political gameplaying on this issue to the despair of Bridge users
across London and beyond, but it really is pretty clear now who is
playing politics and where the buck stops. I am convinced, having
followed every twist and turn over the past two years, that LBHF and
TfL have sincerely tried to find, promote and fund a way of repairing
the Bridge. And let’s face it, why wouldn’t they? What is in it for
the Mayor or the council not to have the Bridge fully functioning.
LBHF paid or committed almost £10 million and TfL £50 million before
the Covid crash deprived it of its income stream. Over £20 million has
actually been spent. You would think the government would share
these objectives, and without Covid19 and the postponement of the
election maybe they would have come up with the balance of the cost,
say £100 million, last year. Yes, it is a lot of money, but billions
are being spent on major engineering projects in the borough (HS2,
Crossrail, the Thames Tunnel), hundreds of millions on road and bridge
schemes around the country with far less local contribution than is
demanded in Hammersmith, and Johnson endlessly tells us we can afford
vanity projects like the estuary airport, the garden bridge or the
England-Scotland-Ireland tunnels. Not a penny has been given by the
government to repair the Bridge, and the Taskforce exists solely to
delay the project, presumably (but with extraordinary contempt for all
of us) because they think this somehow benefits the Conservative
Party. Well, judging by my inbox, that ferry has sailed. But just as a
reminder, here are three ways the government could have got the Bridge
open to foot/cycle traffic as quickly as it is taking to get the ferry
moving. This time last year TfL was ready to apply for planning
permission for a temporary footbridge to provide access and allow
works to the main Bridge to proceed unhindered (this incidentally was
what happened when the first Bridge was taken down and the current one
built in the 1880s). But to get consent from the river authorities,
TfL had to show it had the funds to complete the whole project (so
they could be sure it was a genuinely temporary solution) and the
government would not underwrite these. After the full closure last
August, it was estimated to cost £46m to stabilise the Bridge and
allow it to reopen to foot/river traffic and for repair works to
proceed over the next five years. No estimate puts the government
share of costs below this figure and had they agreed to it then the
Bridge could have been stabilised and reopened this summer. LBHF
have worked with architects Foster and Co and engineers COWI to design
a temporary bridge that sits inside the current towers. This is
estimated to take a year to allow pedestrian use and only a few months
more to permit motor traffic. The existing Bridge would then be
disassembled and repaired offsite. Fosters presented to the Taskforce
last autumn. They are still waiting to hear. A year ago, I and
other affected MPs from Barnes, Putney and Chiswick debated the Bridge
in the Commons. Next week we will be doing so again. We have little
choice but to raise the issues with ministers in this way as they have
refused to meet us. I hope we will not be calling the same debate next
year. And I hope we will not still be catching the ferry to Barnes in
10 years’ time.

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Cheers, David, will read that in a moment. (I now have.) I have to admit that I'm not really interested in the ferry, just what will happen to the bridge, although I'm of course aware that it's very important to people in the area that some means of crossing is provided in the interim. What I meant by 'nothing's happened' is what the MP says:

A little black humour is allowable as on Saturday we enter the third year since the initial closure to motor traffic with no sign of substantive works to the Bridge itself.

But, and blimey:

Over £20 million has actually been spent.

Also:

Not a penny has been given by the government to repair the Bridge, and the Taskforce exists solely to delay the project, presumably (but with extraordinary contempt for all of us) because they think this somehow benefits the Conservative Party.

Fair point Oliver
Nothing has happened apart from 29 million being spent (blimey!)

The fact that walking / riding over the bridge was also stopped over this period is the worst outcome and seems to have no real justification

Over £20 million has actually been spent.

Is there any detail about how that £20m has been spent. It seems an awful lot of money.

It should mostly be on engineering consultants. I think that spending tally probably dates back a good few years and hasn't just been spent in the last three years. The New Civil Engineer did an FOI request last year, and TfL's spending over the 13 years to 2020 was put at £16.7m:

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/revealed-tfl-has-spent-16-7m-on-hammersmith-bridge-repair-plans-28-10-2020/

LBHF may have spent the rest, so the figures may be for 2007-2020.

Where do you get £29m from, David? He just said 'more than £20m'. Or just a typo?

£20m on consultancy is about 130 engineers working full time for a year. Seems overkill.

£20m on consultancy is about 130 engineers working full time for a year. Seems overkill.

Didn't they spend a similar amount on a bridge that was cancelled? At least this one exists.

I doubt all that money was spent on engineers. On both cases.

Still nothing has happened
So more unnews to read
https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/hammersmith-bridge-crossrail-fix-sadiq-khan-london-b932637.html?amp

Yeah, but by Hammersmith Bridge standards, this is a fireworks display of events spiralling out of control: Someone's written an article. :)

Well, it does say that they're exploring re-opening the bridge to walking and cycling, so that's something, I guess.

Yeah they've been exploring that for months.
(Bit like having 3 commissions investigating who paid for the initial invoice for Downing Dtreet refurbishment)

Things are really hotting up, here's another article:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hammersmith-bridge-failure-grant-shapps-west-london-b932604.html