LANDORE: Divers are in the Tawe as the Bascule Bridge’s old supports come out

New fenders are going in to protect the bridge from boats, and there’s more to come around Christmas.

Swansea Bay News
4 Min Read
The old timber trestles of the Bascule Bridge standing in the River Tawe at Landore, with a crane barge and new timber fender rails alongside and riverside flats behind
The Bascule Bridge’s old timber trestles in the Tawe, with the work barge alongsideCllr Rob Stewart / Facebook

Divers are in the River Tawe, helping to pull out the old timber supports under the Bascule Bridge.

The restoration of the 117-year-old bridge is gathering pace, according to Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart, who has shared new photos from the site.

New fender rails, which shield the bridge supports from boats and debris coming down the river, are finished on the east bank, he says.

Crews have moved across to the west bank, and he expects that side to be done by the end of this week.

Floating platforms go in for the last of the Bascule Bridge’s old deck

Floating platforms are being put in so crews can safely reach the remaining sections of the old bridge deck and take them out.

White floating pontoon platforms laid on the River Tawe beneath the old Bascule Bridge deck, with a worker standing on them and a work barge alongside
Floating platforms in place under the old bridge deck (Image: Cllr Rob Stewart / Facebook)

More of the ageing timber supports come out next, to make way for replacements. Further work is planned around Christmas, Cllr Stewart says.

He says the bridge will reopen next year as a walking and cycling route over the Tawe.

Workers in orange overalls in a small boat beside new timber fender rails in the River Tawe, with a crane barge and a digger on the bank
Crews in a work boat beside the new fender rails (Image: Cllr Rob Stewart / Facebook)

Where the Bascule Bridge’s 70-tonne span is now

The bridge’s 70-tonne steel span is not back over the river yet. It has been in a holding position near the Swansea.com Stadium since it was moved through the city overnight in April.

South Wales contractor Ian Davies Plant was appointed in July to deliver the final phase, which ends with the span being craned back into place.

The first of the old timbers came out in September, when the council said the restoration would be finished next year.

Why Landore’s Bascule Bridge matters

The bridge was built in 1909 to link the Morfa and Upper Bank copperworks on opposite banks of the river at Landore.

Its deck lifted to let tall-masted ships through, swung up by the weight of a water tank under its western end rather than an engine.

It has stood unused since the copperworks were abandoned in the 1980s, and is now a Scheduled Monument.

Next door, restoration work carries on at the Hafod-Morfa Copperworks, where Penderyn’s distillery is already open.

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Swansea Bay News

Reporting from the Swansea Bay News newsroom.


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