Historic Chester bridge to close as issues uncovered in centenary year

Chester’s historic Queens Park Suspension Bridge is set to close for up to five days in its centenary year after issues with the metal work were uncovered.

The problems were discovered during a routine inspection meaning protective scaffolding must be installed next week to strengthen the 100-year-old bridge and ensure public safety – particularly with the city’s popular raft race taking place on July 2.

The installation of scaffolding will start on Monday, June 26 and take up to five days. During this time it is expected that the bridge will have to be closed, Cheshire West and Chester Council confirmed. There will be a safety boat on the river during the work and river users may be required to change their navigation depending on the work taking place above.

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Inspections of the bridge are carried out by council engineers. There were no issues discovered during the 2013 loading tests or the 2020 visual inspection, but this year’s inspection resulted in a structures report being commissioned after problems were seen on the bridge.

A more detailed assessment will now be carried out while the scaffolding is in place so a repair plan can be drawn up. Deputy council leader Karen Shore said: “We need to ensure the safety of the public, and like all our bridges and structures, regular inspections take place to monitor it. This year issues have now been reported on the 100-year-old suspension bridge.

“To ensure popular events like the raft race on 2 July can still go ahead and to welcome spectators on the bridge, a team of experts has designed a system of temporary scaffolding that will be installed to strengthen the bridge and ensure public safety. The temporary scaffold is a tried and tested solution used on similar bridges.