Built in 1932, the Regent Road bridge is only one of a handful of its type in the UK and has had a new lighting system installed to show off its engineering and architectural features. Tony McDonough reports
An historic Grade II-listed bridge in Liverpool’s docklands has been lit up as part of the city council’s £52m road improvement project.
Built in 1932, the Bascule Bridge in Regent Road, is only one of a handful of its type in the UK and has had a new lighting system installed to show off its engineering and architectural features in a multitude of different colours.
Liverpool firm MJ Quinn has installed the feature after completing a similar job at St Luke’s – the bombed-out church – in the city centre last year.
A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic and comes from the French term for ‘balance scale’.
Captain America
It crosses Stanley Dock system, and is close to the Titanic Hotel. Owner Peel Group refurbished the bridge in 2012 at a cost of £60,000 and it has featured in Hollywood blockbusters such as Captain America and Sherlock Holmes.
Liverpool City Council funded the project, with support from Peel Land and Property as the bridge lies adjacent to its £5bn Liverpool Waters site which includes the council’s new Cruise Liner Terminal and Bramley Moore Dock – the location for Everton FC’s proposed new football stadium.
Ten Streets
Cllr Joe Hanson, whose Kirkdale ward covers the area, championed the illumination of the bridge as one of the first environmental schemes to boost the recently created Ten Streets district.
“The Bascule Bridge at Stanley Dock is one of the jewels of Liverpool’s dock system and this new lighting scheme will make it truly shine as one of our great historical assets,” he said.
“It’s a fascinating piece of engineering and I’ve long wanted it to be celebrated in a creative way that would bring its beauty into the spotlight – and the job by MJ Quinn brilliantly achieves that.”.
Second phase
Ian Pollitt, assistant project director, Liverpool Waters, added: “The new lighting system is really going to allow the people of Liverpool and visitors to the city to see the bridge in a new light.”
Contractors for the council, Geoffrey Osborne, is currently completing the first phase of improvements to Regent Road with the laying of new pavements and road resurfacing and new footpaths. The second phase which goes north of Bascule Bridge is scheduled to complete in summer 2019.
These infrastructure works will be complemented by the creation of a further two new waterfront link roads, at the cost of £20m, at the city centre end of the A565, which are being built to support both the new cruise terminal and new £30m Isle Of Man Cruise terminal.