Clifton Suspension Bridge - toll road bridge in Bristol

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bristol Post:

Clifton Suspension Bridge to be lit up green at midnight to mark Bristol's European Green Capital year


Clifton Suspension Bridge will be lit up in green as the clock strikes midnight tonight

Tomorrow might be a day of hangovers and resolutions for many, but it will also be the day that Bristol begins its prestigious year as European Green Capital.

And to mark the momentous occasion, Clifton Suspension Bridge will be lit up in green as the clock strikes midnight tonight.

Floodlights will cover the bridge as the New Year rings in at the stroke of 12am.

And from tomorrow, a programme of artwork, community plans, city improvements and entertainment can finally begin, after months of planning and organising behind the scenes.

The Bristol 2015 team has promised an eclectic year of events, which it is hoped will impact directly on communities from Clifton to Keynsham.

The European Commission officially handed over the title of European Green Capital from Copenhagen to Bristol in early December.

Bristol is the first UK^▸ (United Kingdom) city to be awarded the title, and its programme of activity for 2015 promises to be the ^best funded and most comprehensive launched by any European Green Capital to date^.

Mayor George Ferguson said at the handover ceremony: ^My ambition is that Bristol^s year as European Green Capital should make a positive difference to people throughout the city and create a lasting legacy that we can all be proud of.^

The handover ceremony marked the sixth year of the European Green Capital initiative, which rewards cities that are making efforts to improve the urban environment and move towards healthier and more sustainable living areas.

Other cities that have previously held the Green Capital title are Stockholm (2010), Hamburg (2011), Vitoria-Gasteiz (2012), Nantes (2013) and Copenhagen (2014). Ljubljana will take over from Bristol in 2016.

This year will see Luke Jerram^s latest piece installed in Leigh Woods - from April, the artist will invite visitors to experience an unexpected encounter with a flotilla of abandoned fishing boats installed in the depths of the woodland.

[TonyK]

The Bristol Post has some unusual pictures of the suspension bridge.

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Clifton Suspension Bridge turns green to mark European Green Capital

Bristol has taken over from Copenhagen as European Green Capital

Bristol has marked the start of its year as European Green Capital by lighting up Clifton Suspension Bridge.

The bridge was lit with green light at midnight.

The city is the first in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to be given the status since the award was launched in 2008 and has taken over the title from Copenhagen.

The initiative rewards cities making efforts to improve the urban environment and create healthier and more sustainable living areas.

Previous title holders are: Stockholm in 2010, Hamburg in 2011, Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2012, Nantes in 2013 and Copenhagen in 2014.

Ljubljana, in Slovenia, will take over from Bristol in 2016.

Stunning!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Lurid! 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bristol Post:

Huge vaults under Clifton Suspension Bridge towers opened to public for the first time

Hidden for more than 150 years, these are the stunning cathedral-like vaults under Isambard Kingdom Brunel's engineering masterpiece.

The 12 chambers below each end of the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge were first found by chance in 2002 by a builder.

They have now been opened to the public for the first time since the bridge opened in 1864 after doorways were installed in the two-metre thick brickwork.

The vaults are inside the massive two-storey abutments which support the bridge towers either side of the Avon Gorge in Bristol.

It was assumed for decades that they were either solid stone or filled and the discovery of the huge chambers surprised historians.

Two of them have now been opened for guided tours where visitors will have to climb down a ladder and squeeze through a small passageway.

The sealed-up chambers were discovered by chance by a builder as he replaced paving stones on the western side of the bridge nearly 15 years ago.

Since then all of the rubble in the lower chamber of the abutment has been "hoovered" out using a section truck and the site made safe.


A look inside one of the vaults under Clifton Suspension Bridge

Laura Hilton, the bridge's visitor services manager, said: "Brunel made sure it would last but he didn't consider that people would have to go into the vaults to perform any kind of maintenance, so there was no entranceway to them at all."

Built using lime mortar, the vaulted chambers are filled with stalagmites and stalactites - calcite deposits dripped down through the brickwork

No construction drawings survive and as the vaults were sealed, no-one knew of their existence.


The vaults are connected by a network of tunnels

Connected by a network of narrow tunnels, Ms Hilton said the massive two-storey abutment was "quite a strange place to go inside".

She added: "The largest chamber that we can go into is tall enough to stack three double-decker buses inside. It's almost like a cathedral and because it was built using lime mortar it's filled with stalagmites and stalactites so it's just amazing to go inside."

The bridge, which stands 245ft above the high water mark, was completed in 1864 - five years after Brunel's death at the age of 53.

It will also be open to public for free during Bristol Open Doors later this year.


This black hole leads into one of the vaults

[Bmblbzzz]

Wow! That's rather impressive and a little curious.

Is the toll still 50p currently?  If so, that is a huge increase.

I remember hearing that the law allows a 5p toll to be charged to pedestrians, although this was never collected.

They used to collect 2p in the late 80s. Rumour had it this was more for suicide prevention than finances (the idea being, supposedly, the toll staff would spot anyone who looked suicidal and talk to them or something).

[TonyK]

It was 2p in the late 1970s too, and I can recall stumping up once, albeit begrudgingly. It stopped when the coin operated barriers came into use for vehicles, although you are probably correct about it still being available should the trustees wish to employ someone to collect it.