A new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Trent is “on budget and on target” for completion in June 2026.
The Waterside Bridge will link Trent Basin, off Daleside Road in the city, to the south bank of the river close to the Hook nature reserve in Lady Bay, in Rushcliffe borough.
It has been planned for a number of years, but has faced delays and rising costs.
However a senior Nottingham councillor says the recently constructed bridge will soon be lifted into place, ahead of the project’s planned June 2026 completion date.
The £18m project, which is being funded by the Government’s Transforming Cities fund, was originally expected to cost £9m.
The towering structure is currently sitting beside Trent Basin, and Europe’s tallest crane will lift it into place the week commencing November 10.
Cllr Linda Woodings (Lab), executive member for regional development, growth and transport, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The budget did go up slightly because on the public consultation people said make [the bridge] four metres wide, not 3.5m, and obviously supplies have gone up in price since then. But the £18m budget is confirmed, it is coming in on budget.
“The most exciting bit is the crane going up. We’ve got that crane for a period of a few days, so during that time the bridge has got to be lifted into place. It is the biggest crane in Europe. I’m told the only thing that will stop it is high winds.
“The bridge will be ready once they have finished off the surrounding areas, fixes, repainted all the joints, and that will be – I am told – late Spring.
“They don’t want to commit to a date on a just-in-case basis, but the commitment is the bridge will be finished by June and we are on target so far.”
While Balfour Beatty is the primary contractor behind the project, the 87 metre-long bridge structure itself was constructed in Hucknall by Briton Fabricators, which was established in the city in 1973.
Similarly Nottingham-based civil engineering firm J McCann & Co has been working on the groundwork for the project using local workers.
Cllr Woodings added: “It is wonderful they have used Nottingham-based company McCann to actually do all the civil engineering for the bridge, and we were able to use a company just eight miles away, Briton Fabricators, to actually build the bridge of British steel as well, and have a load of local apprentices learning really high-skilled jobs in the vicinity of Nottingham.”
Residents living on the Trent Basin estate welcomed the new project.
Ruth Lindstrom has lived in an apartment block directly next to Trent Basin for eight years.
She said: “Initially right in front of the apartments it was noisy with vehicles, but you do get used to things, and as soon as the bridge came we saw the beauty of it. It was built locally, we are thrilled about that.
“It will greatly improve the area. A lot of people will come to see it and then they will start to use it.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport added: “The Government and the DfT have invested over £160m from the Transforming Cities fund in Nottingham and Derby, including £18m for the new bridge scheme.
“It is great to see the transformational impact it is having in the local area, and to be here today to see the bridge in person, ready to be lifted into place in a few weeks’ time.”
