Pero’s Bridge in the scenic harbourside centre of Bristol has been abruptly closed after failing a routine safety check in a fairly spectacular manner this morning.

https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/peros-bridge-closed-major-structural-fault/

Bristol City Council engineers were testing the lifting mechanism of the bascule footbridge which spans St Augustines Reach just outside Arnolfini Gallery on Narrow Quay, and links pedestrian and cycle traffic over the water to Millenium Square and the Watershed on the Canons Marsh side.

The bridge had been closed around 9 am, and the bascule portion had been lifted to a 45° angle  for the first time in nine years when the hydraulic ram seals failed, and the bascule fell back down with an enormous crash and jumped its bearing tracks as it did so (The large decorative ‘horns’ are actually lead-filled counterweights). Fortunately there were no casualties

According to sources who witnessed the incident, it was the City engineer’s first day in a new job, and one that he is unlikely to forget - (assuming it wasn’t also his last).

Pero’s Bridge was built as a Millenium project, and opened in 1999 to almost immediate controversy as its Irish designer Eilis O’Connell promptly disowned it, citing poor workmanship and implementation of her award winning design. The new footbridge was named after Pero Jones an 18th century West Indian boy who was a personal slave of John Pinney - a plantation owner and sugar merchant whose home is preserved as Bristol’s ‘Georgian House’ near Brandon Hill.

Pero’s Bridge  soon became  a favourite location for couples wishing to install ‘Lovelocks’ to celebrate their union by attaching padlocks to the footbridge, and then throwing the key into the harbour. Last year Bristol City Council removed 3 tonnes of these locks after concerns had been raised that the extra weight might cause the bridge to malfunction.

6 hours ago, toucana said:

Pero’s Bridge in the scenic harbourside centre of Bristol has been abruptly closed after failing a routine safety check in a fairly spectacular manner this morning.

Posted 14/08/2026 but the incident actually occurred the previous day.

Pero's footbridge lead across an side leg of the old harbour from the Youth Hostel to some a plaza spectacular with fountains, but in my opinion is particularly ugly.

Interestingly it is very close to the dry dock with Brunel's famous steamship, he must be shuddering in his grave at the poor engineering.

Far more interesting and better engineered millennium bridges are Miller's Crossing in Exeter, nearby and the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland.

1 hour ago, studiot said:

Posted 14/08/2026 but the incident actually occurred the previous day.

Pero's footbridge lead across an side leg of the old harbour from the Youth Hostel to some a plaza spectacular with fountains, but in my opinion is particularly ugly.

Interestingly it is very close to the dry dock with Brunel's famous steamship, he must be shuddering in his grave at the poor engineering.

Far more interesting and better engineered millennium bridges are Miller's Crossing in Exeter, nearby and the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland.

I was impressed with the ingenuity of the Gateshead millennium bridge when I visited Newcastle a couple of years ago. I took me a moment to work out why the footway was curved and how it operated. Unlike the one in Bristol, this one is operated fairly frequently I think.

Pretty shocking that the seals failed without warning on the Bristol bridge. Did they leave it for years without operating it?

37 minutes ago, exchemist said:

I was impressed with the ingenuity of the Gateshead millennium bridge when I visited Newcastle a couple of years ago. I took me a moment to work out why the footway was curved and how it operated. Unlike the one in Bristol, this one is operated fairly frequently I think.

Pretty shocking that the seals failed without warning on the Bristol bridge. Did they leave it for years without operating it?

I've not seen the Gateshead one, but I walked over the Pero a couple of years ago. My daughter was staying at the YHA, seeing the sights of Bristol So I drove up for the day and we went round the amazing Brunel permanent exhibition and Cabot's ship.
Pero's bridge closed and the waterway was open in the morning but that was changed later in the day.
The much older swing bridge carrying the main road across the Cumberland Basin has been operating for a very long time.

1 hour ago, exchemist said:

Pretty shocking that the seals failed without warning on the Bristol bridge. Did they leave it for years without operating it?

It hadn’t  been lifted for almost a decade, partly because of the barnacle-like encrustation of nearly 3 tonnes of old padlocks attached to the superstructure over the years by love-sick romantics. No one felt like attempting to operate the bascule until these ‘Lovelocks’  had been removed.

I used to work down at the harbour and can remember standing on the quayside watching while Pero’s Bridge was first being tested by Ove Arup who were the original consulting engineers. That single hydraulic ram always seemed distinctly  inadequate for the task and the imposed load. Even when it was brand new, the mechanism was straining, and there was a visible lateral jitter as the bascule section came back down to rest.

There have been numerous comments in the local press about quite what went wrong. Apparently the engineer ignored a suggestion that they should use a crane to do an initial lifting test. Other people have suggested that the heatwave temperatures may have caused some expansion problems - some even blamed the solar eclipse which took place later the same day !

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by toucana
added "later" in final line.

11 hours ago, toucana said:

Pero’s Bridge in the scenic harbourside centre of Bristol has been abruptly closed after failing a routine safety check

That IS the purpose of a routine safety check. To that extent, it did its job.

This is curious, since I cannot think of an engineering design consultancy in the world that has a better reputation for quality and excellence than the Arup Group. They're really one of a kind, and do not do shortcuts. It will be interesting to see the root cause analysis.