Plans for Hammersmith Bridge are unveiled including blowing it up – as task force discussing its future meets for first time in three years

Plans for Hammersmith Bridge have been revealed and one of them would see that the 139-year-old structure was blown up.

The West London Bridge has been closed for cars since April 2019 due to structural issues.

The closure came into force after cracks were discovered in the structure of the bridge and engineers found that it was not safe to be open to traffic.

While access to pedestrians and cycle was allowed to remain open, the bridge was closed for all traffic, including pedestrians and cyclists, since August 2020, but reopened in July 2021.

A task force led by the government is considering fate, and a car -free bridge, with only pedestrians and cyclists allowed, is on the maps ..

The minutes, unveiled by a request for freedom of information, show that the Task Force permanently prohibits cars because it would be cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

Restoring the 138-year-old bridge will cost an estimated £ 250 million, and it can only reopen in 2035.

One proposal, under an original six of the Task Force, would have made it in an inaccessible monument.

The West London Bridge has been closed for cars since April 2019 due to structural issues.

The closure came into force after cracks were discovered in the structure of the bridge and engineers found that it was not safe to be open to traffic.

Another would have demolished the bridge and replaced it with a new river transition.

However, these two have now been thrown away.

Only one of the three options that are still being investigated would make auto access possible.

The plan would see a new road that was built above pedestrians and cyclists, creating a temporary “double -decker” intersection.

The bridge was reopened for pedestrians and cyclists dismantled in 2021 and temporary cycle paths were installed the following year.

A new permanent £ 2.9 million cycle strip was approved in April 2024, but construction is still underway.

Repair work on the bridge, however, have been paused since December 2023, when a boat that wore West Ham fans to a competition in Fulham collided with the portal that offers access to employees at the bottom of the bridge

The costs for repairing Hammersmith Bridge are estimated at around £ 250 million after years of delays

The bridge was built in 1887 and opened by the then Prince of Wales. The IRA attacks survived

Sir Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, said he wants to[ed] The bridge reopened for vehicles'

Buildings that needed less time to build than the Hammersmith Bridge repairs

The Burj Khalifa -Cloudenkrabber in Dubai, VAE

A high speed box train crosses the Grand Bridge Van Danyang-Kunshan

Empire State Building, New York: A year and 45 days

Eiffel Tower, Paris: Two years, two months and five days

Danyang-Artshan Grand Bridge (the world's longest bridge), on the high-speed railway of Beijing-Shangahi: Four years

Burj Khalifa, Dubai: Six years

Buildings that took more time:

Great pyramid of Giza: 20 years

Stonehenge, UK: 1500 years

Sir Sadiq Khan told the standard he wants[ed] The bridge was reopened for vehicles', while former transport secretary Grant Shapps promised 'to reopen the bridge to motorists' in 2022.

But officials praised plans, giving cyclists, pedestrians and buses with one cloth only access, as cheaper and environmentally friendly.

The Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce met for the first time in three years on January 30.

A spokesperson for DFT said: 'While the government is confronted with a difficult situation with Hammersmith Bridge, where decisions have been evaded about her future for many years, we acknowledge the frustration that causes the closure of motorists.

'The Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce met on January 30 to consider the potential next steps for the future of the bridge in the long term. A series of possible technical solutions were discussed and further updates will be made available in due course. '

The decision to close the bridge six years ago was taken by the owner Hammersmith and Fulham Council after discovering that the wrought iron structure was littered with cracks.

The estimated costs for making the cracking piece of infrastructure for cars and buses safe are bleached from an initial £ 20 million to the current £ 250 million.

Stabilization work to have the bridge reopened for pedestrians and cyclists cost £ 40 million.

The Labor-Run-Hammersmith and Fulham Council, Transport for London (TFL) that has strategic responsibility for city-wide transport, and the Department for Transport (DFT) have all tried to prevent them from paying the bill.

The DFT had proposed to pay the Council and TFL each third of the repair costs, whereby the taxpayer finances the rest.

However, the town has already said that it cannot afford to pay its share unless it introduces a toll or road user costs.

Hammersmith Bridge, who survived three IRA attacks, is one of the world's oldest mechanical suspension bridges and the aforementioned degree-II. Designed by the well -known 19th -century civil engineer, Sir Joseph Bazalgette, was built in 1887 and opened by the then Prince of Wales.

It is the lowest bridge in London, with an anhydrousiness of only 12 feet in tide, and one of the weakest in the capital, therefore weight restrictions have been in force since 2015.