17 Scale Lane Bridge

A good introduction to the latest of Hull’s River Bridges, at Scale Lane Staithe, is from the City Council’s Tourism page:

“The first footbridge of its kind in the world to allow people to ride on it while it opens, the Scale Lane footbridge was officially opened by former Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull and Admiral of the Humber, Councillors Nadine Fudge and Boulton from the Homes and Communities Agency on Friday 28 June 2013.

The Scale Lane swing bridge links Scale Lane with Tower Street. It creates a unique pedestrian route between the city’s museums in the historic Old Town and The Deep Submarium, as well as accommodating river traffic. It is the only moving bridge in the world where people can stay on it as it swings open.

The iconic footbridge has won many prestigious national and international awards.”

The contract for the bridge was won by architects McDowell+Benedetti and you can read about the original design and see the fabrication and construction of the bridge in Jonathan McDowell’s article in chapter 31.

The gallery of photographs below show the design from river bank, bridge, control room and barge. The first image is taken by Mal Scott from his journey on his boat up the river in 2015. Mal was instrumental in making the Open Bridges event happen in 2017 and is sorely missed.

The film below the photographs is published here with thanks and the permission from engineering company Qualter Hall who built the bridge. You can read all about their fascinating history here: https://qualterhall.co.uk/portfolio/scale-lane-bridge/

Qualter Hall & Company were the lead MEICA engineering contractor for Scale Lane and Millennium Bridges, thanks to George and Lisa at Qualter Hall for the gallery of photographs below which shows Scale Lane Bridge in construction.

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