The Cremorne (Diamond Jubilee) Bridge

The Cremorne (Diamond Jubilee) Bridge
The new pedestrian and cycle bridge designed to connect Battersea and Fulham has been included within the current version of the Wandsworth Plan where the intent is that it will be complete by 2035.

Overview:
This new Bridge that will connect the inner London communities and businesses of Battersea and Fulham represents high value for money(*1). It is sustainable infrastructure that will bring air quality and health benefits and boost the local economy. It will connect schools to their pupils, businesses to customers and a railway station and other transport links to a greater catchment of users.

This true infrastructure project will have over 1.4 million users per annum (*1), has been subject of a TfL audit (*2) and since included in TfL’s Transport Plan for London. It is in The London Plan and forms part of adopted policy by Hammersmith & Fulham and Wandsworth Councils. The bridge is supported by the GLA (*3)and through Wandsworth’s Riverside SPD provision more than 60% of the funding has been achieved through future CIL payments. This public project is being lead and will be adopted by Wandsworth Council.

It will help air quality by shifting modes of transport from cars and busses. It will ease congestion on local busses. It will help reduce overcrowding at Clapham Junction. It will encourage more walking and cycling on local and commuter and business journeys. It will save time on local and commuter journeys and It will improve connectivity between existing public transport nodes by bus, rail and river.

*1 -The 2012 SKM Colin Buchanan was commissioned by Wandsworth Council. It concluded that the bridge represented high value for money.
*2-TfL Audit/Review 2016: TfL appointed Mott Macdonald to carry out a review/cost comparison of the scheme in 2016 which was submitted to the Mayor of London wo has since included the crossing in the TfL Transport Plan 2017.
*3 –The GLA motion of support can be found here: https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/assembly/assembly-push-for-diamond-jubilee-bridge

Planning & Business Case Summary
• 1924, Viscount Curzon MP calls formally for a bridge for pedestrian access situated between Wandsworth Bridge and Battersea Bridge
• A bridge, adjacent to the Cremorne rail bridge, is called for in 2009 in the Transport Committee’s review into the delivery of improvements to the orbital rail network which calls for it to link Battersea to the Overground network at Imperial wharf (rather than a new station in Battersea).
• The first Business case was produced by consultants appointed by the two borough councils in 2003; it was then updated in 2012 and the proposal was shown to have Benefit/Cost Ratio of 2.0:1, representing high value for money. The site is selected and established by both councils in these documents.
• The bridge is adopted policy in both Hammersmith & Fulham and Wandsworth
• The bridge is part of the London Plan and is specifically called for in the Thames Strategy Policy Recommendation M7.
• Hammersmith and Fulham’s South Fulham Riverside SPD calls for the delivery of the bridge
• Wandsworth councils Riverside SPD calls for the bridge and makes provision for funding contributions through CIL payments.
• The Bridge is included in TfL’s (Transport for London) Connecting the Capital Plan of December 2015
• The Bridge is included in TfL’s transport plan for London, issued June 2017
• The GLA (London’s elected Council) have agreed a cross party motion of support for the bridge
• The Bridge has planning consent and pre-commencement condition 13 has been discharged (pile design)
• TfL have completed their November 2016 cost analysis and business case which confirms its value for money and need.
• Piles have been installed and the bridge has now started on site so the consent is secured

Construction & Cost summary
• Piles are already in the ground in Battersea (procured through a S106 agreement with housing developer Barratt London)
• Once funded the bridge can be delivered within 18 months. (seasonally dependent river works to avoid fish spawning season)
• It is envisaged that the next stage will be procured via an open Design and Build competitive tender process.
• The Transport for London (TfL) cost plan shows the construction cost at circa £34m, given inflation we now expect that to be around £38m
• Wandsworth Council had previously earmarked £18m for the construction of the bridge in CIL monies
• Wandsworth Council have previously agreed in principle to adopt the completed bridge in order to maintain it

Environmental Summary (as ascertained by Wandsworth Council’s independent report)
• This true infrastructure project will have over 1.4 million users per annum (according to independent business case and TfL)
• It will help air quality by shifting modes of transport from cars and busses
• It will ease congestion on local busses
• It will reduce the overcrowding at Clapham Junction
• It will encourage more walking and cycling on local and commuter and business journeys
• It will save time on local and commuter journeys
• It will improve connectivity between existing public transport nodes by bus, rail and river

The style of the bridge is a combination of bright and biomimetic adopting the tensile strength and overall flexibility of a repeating cross-matrix of thin tapering sections. The bridge design has three spans comprising a small central arch flanked by two larger outer arches, supported by four piers. The maximum height of the bridge is 18.41m AOD, rising approximately 4.5m above the neighbouring railway bridge. The primary structure material is painted structural steel.

The deck is to be shared by pedestrians and cyclists.

The three‐span arrangement of the bridge, with larger outer spans and a smaller central span, maintains unobstructed access to the pier at Albion Quay on the south of the river. It also minimises the need for foundations in the river while limiting the structural height so that the bridge does not extend into the airspace required by the nearby Battersea Heliport. The use of diamond‐shaped steel sections both reflects the name of the bridge and allows the arch section size to be varied to provide efficiency, providing material only where it is needed. With the depth of the sections significantly reduced at towards the top of the arches, the long‐views of the bridge will appear particularly elegant.

Architect: One World Design Architects
Structural Engineers: Expedition Engineering
Marine Engineers: Beckett Rankine