Wednesday 19 December 2007

Boscastle's new bridge progresses

It was way back on the 12th of May I wrote a piece about the proposal to replace the old stone arched bridge in Boscastle's harbour area. The plans submitted at that time for an elegant steel structure provoked outrage in the community. Although I love Boscastle with a passion I blogged that trying to replicate the style of the old bridge but with a significantly greater span just wasn't on, the only solution being to construct something of a more contemporary appearance.

Now I must admit I hadn't been following the story since that time and was caught slightly on the hop when I saw television footage yesterday of the two precast concrete spans being lowered into position, the original design having been modified somewhat. Evidently the location of the new bridge is not quite where the old one is as we are told that the original structure is still there at the moment but will be demolished. From the pictures I've seen the new construction is quite a slender affair - I must make a visit in the Spring to see for myself.

There are places where you can look down on Boscastle's harbour area and I have a feeling that the new bridge will look far less offensive than the massive car park nearby full of shiny metal. But I don't really expect Boscastle's residents and visitors to see it that way!

1 comment:

brian in the tamar valley said...

I've just found a video from this webpage http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7150000/newsid_7150900/7150926.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm&news=1&bbcws=1 on the BBC Cornwall website showing the precast section of the bridge. Nice to see a cornish company involved!