COPNOR ROAD BRIDGE WORKSHOPS

This book is all about Copnor Bridge and its amazing transformation in its hundredth year. The images here document the hard work of engineers, construction workers, designers, planners and artists; and what s more, the imagination and involvement of hundreds of schoolchildren and local residents. The story of Copnor Bridge goes back to the arrival of the railway in Portsmouth in 1846 when a level crossing was first provided on the site of the bridge to come. Around the turn of last century, it was realised that the level crossing was creating a significant block to local trade and an increasing danger to the busy railway. As a result, in 1906, the crossing was replaced by a bridge and the maintenance became the responsibility of the former County Borough Council of Portsmouth.

COPNOR ROAD BRIDGE INTRODUCTION This bridge was then a three-span structure with a 10m wide carriageway and pavements on both sides. It had a headroom of 4.267m above rail level but the current Network Rail standard for all new bridges is a clearance of 4.64m with consideration to possibly further increasing this to 4.84m to meet new Trans-European Rail Network standards. Following an inspection by the Portsmouth City Council in 2000, it became clear that there was an urgent need to replace the bridge due to the severe decay and distortions discovered in the main structure. This decay also meant that traffic would have to be limited to single lane flow. In a small city with so few major north/south routes, Copnor Road is an essential part of Portsmouth s highway network. The need to restore the road over the bridge to two-way traffic was seen as vital to the City s economy and to the busy railway network serving London and the wider areas along the south coast and south Wales. Today, Copnor Road and the bridge provide direct access to key city locations such as St Mary s Hospital, Copnor Fire Station, local schools, Portsmouth Football Club and the fastexpanding Pompey Centre development. The old three-span steel bridge has now been replaced with a new single span concrete one, which has increased the distance between the supports and the trains passing underneath. The scheme has also included a facility for later raising the bridge further to provide an enhanced rail headroom to meet possible future European rail directives and the need to accommodate the higher vehicles which will become European standards for all major designated Trans-European Rail Network routes. This branch into Portsmouth is not yet designated under the current rail directives.

Other options were considered for the future of the bridge, including repair. In the end though demolition and replacement meant closing the bridge for the shortest time, minimising future disruption and allowing the railway to remain open throughout the works - apart from the spectacular demolition weekend of 5th and 6th of November 2005. Community involvement has been an essential part of the project from the start. Portsmouth City Council knew that closing the bridge would cause disruption to residents and they therefore set out to keep local people informed and involved as much as possible. The council wanted to build a sense of ownership in the project within the local community; this is why a major public art project was launched to follow the last weeks of the reconstruction of the bridge. A team of artists from the Island 2000 Trust and scenic artists Eccleston George were commissioned to develop a permanent piece of community- based artwork on the new bridge.

COPNOR ROAD BRIDGE WORKSHOPS This book is a record of the re-development of the bridge, the making of the artwork, the ideas which were brought to open-days and workshops by residents and the tremendous imagination of local schools and community groups. By the end of the project local people from age 5 to age 96 had joined in and left their mark in the search for images to be immortalized on the new Copnor Bridge. Using a selection and combination of these images and ideas the artists have produced two 23 metre long permanent pieces of public art which span the inside sections of the bridge. The carvings and sculpted pictures are produced in a special and very tough render that is, believe it or not, something like a cross between cement and papier-mâché. Our thanks go to everyone who has joined in the Copnor Bridge project, dropped in at the St. Joseph s Hall workshops, told us about the history of the people and the places, drawn pictures, made models, written poems and inspired us with their imagination. Special thanks must go to: Copnor Junior School, Copnor Infant School, Age Concern, Portsmouth City Council Site staff, Newbridge Junior School, Westover Primary School, Langstone Infant School, Learning Links, Shoestring Theatre Company, City of Portsmouth Girls School and the Portsmouth City Council Copnor Bridge Team.

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