About Garden Bridge
The Garden Bridge project was a private proposal for a pedestrian bridge over the River Thames in London, England. Consequent on an idea of Joanna Lumley, Thomas Heatherwick worked with Arup on a proposal by Transport for London (TfL) for a new bridge across the Thames between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges. The proposed concrete, steel, cupronickel clad structure was intended to carry pedestrians, with no cycles or other vehicles. It was to have been located some from Waterloo Bridge and 300m from Blackfriars Bridge, and have included some areas of planting. The project included a commercial building, built on former green space at the southern end of the bridge. The bridge could only be funded by raising over £140 million of private money (including charitable gift aid) and £60 million of promised public money, of which £30m was from Transport for London (£20m of this to be repaid over 55 years) and £30m from the Department for Transport, adding up to projected funding of over £200m in total, In January 2017 the trustees of the prospective owner of the bridge stated that costs would "substantially exceed" an earlier revised total of £185m and in April 2017 the report by Margaret Hodge (below) concluded, on the basis of the Garden Bridge Trust's own evidence to her, that the cost would be over £200m. If built, it was proposed that the bridge would have been open from 6am to midnight, and closed overnight, with further closures for preparation for and holding up to 12 private commercial events per year, to raise funds for its maintenance. A planning condition required annual maintenance costs to be guaranteed by a third party, and it was expected that this would be the Greater London Authority. The maintenance costs were variously estimated at between £2m and £3. 5m, before allowing for repayment of loan capital and interest.
Garden Bridge Description
The Garden Bridge project was a private proposal for a pedestrian bridge over the River Thames in London, England. Consequent on an idea of Joanna Lumley, Thomas Heatherwick worked with Arup on a proposal by Transport for London (TfL) for a new bridge across the Thames between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges. The proposed concrete, steel, cupronickel clad structure was intended to carry pedestrians, with no cycles or other vehicles. It was to have been located some from Waterloo Bridge and 300m from Blackfriars Bridge, and have included some areas of planting. The project included a commercial building, built on former green space at the southern end of the bridge. The bridge could only be funded by raising over £140 million of private money (including charitable gift aid) and £60 million of promised public money, of which £30m was from Transport for London (£20m of this to be repaid over 55 years) and £30m from the Department for Transport, adding up to projected funding of over £200m in total, In January 2017 the trustees of the prospective owner of the bridge stated that costs would "substantially exceed" an earlier revised total of £185m and in April 2017 the report by Margaret Hodge (below) concluded, on the basis of the Garden Bridge Trust's own evidence to her, that the cost would be over £200m. If built, it was proposed that the bridge would have been open from 6am to midnight, and closed overnight, with further closures for preparation for and holding up to 12 private commercial events per year, to raise funds for its maintenance. A planning condition required annual maintenance costs to be guaranteed by a third party, and it was expected that this would be the Greater London Authority. The maintenance costs were variously estimated at between £2m and £3. 5m, before allowing for repayment of loan capital and interest.