Nottingham City Council have entered into a £12.6m delivery contract with Balfour Beatty to deliver the city’s new 85 metre long walking and cycling bridge over the River Trent. 

Balfour Beatty have a proven track record of delivering high-profile infrastructure projects, and it is expected that over 100 people will be employed during the project including 4 apprentices. 

The network arch bridge will be 20 metres high from its deck to its peak, weighing in at 160 tonnes, or about as much as a blue whale. 

The new foot and cycle bridge will link the north side of the river where the new Trent Basin community of 350 homes continues to take shape, and the south side of the river with sports facilities, riverside walks and green spaces are close by. 

This contract signing signals the start of construction for the bridge scheme, with the first activity on site the demolition of the warehouse previously used by Flo Skate Park – this is required to create the space necessary for the construction of the bridge. 

The new bridge will be the first built in the city since the 1950s – linking the north side of the river with popular Colwick Park along with the regenerating Trent Basin area, and the south side of the river with its many sports facilities including the City Ground, Trent Bridge, Holme Pierrepont and Nottingham Rugby Club. 

The new bridge is entirely funded by the Transforming Cities Fund, provided by Central Government. The bridge will be the flagship, and final project to come out of the City Council’s Transforming Cities Fund programme, which began in 2020 following a successful bid joint bid between Nottingham and Derby for over £160million of central Government funding for projects which encourage inter-city connectivity and lower carbon journeys. 

Pic: Mammoet/Transport Nottingham