As reported by Bristol 24/7, Bristol City Council is planning to spend £12 million to stabilise the walls along the Avon New Cut which will take at least five years to complete. According to survey work conducted in 2019 and 2020, 58 of the 194 retaining ‘river wall assets’ along the Floating Harbour and New Cut were found to be in a critical or serious structural condition with 11 considered to be high risk.
Writing in the Mayor’s blog site, Cabinet member for transport, Don Alexander warns that ‘Failure of just 11 of these assets could lead to severe consequences, including loss of life, flooding, property damage and major disruption to traffic across the city.’ As a result, the next cabinet meeting in early February, will consider approving investment of almost £12 million to stabilise these key river walls, prioritising four structures: one next to Langton Street Bridge, two next to Gaol Ferry Bridge (one shown in our image) and one near Bedminster Bridge. Friends of Bathurst Basin raised concerns about the state of the New Cut bank in April 2021.