A350 Twin Sails Bridge

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Type: New road for use by all traffic
Status: Completed
Authority: Poole Borough Council
Cost: £ 40m
Finance: Department for Transport, South West Redevelopment Agency and others
Timescale: 2010-2012
Length: 0.14 km (0.1 miles)

Scheme Outline

The current Poole Bridge, built in 1927, links the port to the town centre; and since the opening of Holes Bay Road all traffic from the Continent is directed along it, leading to delays when the bridge lifts. As part of their regeneration scheme Poole Borough Council intend to construct a new lifting bridge across Holes Bay to the north. With an open height of 35 metres, the bridge has been architecturally designed with the purpose of becoming a local landmark.

Progress

13 January 2009	Some funding and investment still needs to be secured. Construction is expected to start by the end of 2009.
23 June 2010	Funding for the project has been re-confirmed by the new coalition government. A contractor (Hochtief) has been appointed, and construction is expected to start in early summer 2010.
1 July 2010	A ceremony to mark the turning of the first sod was held at the site on 24 June 2010. Construction of the first support pier is scheduled to start in August.
7 October 2010	Work to install the bridge supports began on 5 October 2010, marking the start of the main construction phase.
18 October 2011	All the spans of the bridge are now in place and the mechanism to raise the two halves of the bridge is currently undergoing testing.
20 December 2011	The provisional date for the official opening ceremony is 9 March 2012.
5 January 2012	The new road layout associated with the bridge opened to traffic on 21 December 2011.
31 January 2012	The bridge will open to traffic on 27 February 2012, with the official opening ceremony confirmed as 9 March 2012.
6 February 2012	HRH The Princess Royal has confirmed she’ll be travelling to Poole next month to visit the town’s new Twin Sails Bridge. Her visit, scheduled for March 12, comes three days after the official opening of the £21million structure.
22 February 2012	People will be able to get their first close-up view of Poole’s new Twin Sails Bridge on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February 2012. The Mayor of Poole's Community Weekend will give people a chance to walk across the Twin Sails Bridge in a traffic-free environment before its official opening in March.
27 February 2012	The bridge has suffered technical problems and will not now be opening to traffic today. It is not known at this stage if it will be ready in time for the official opening next month.
12 March 2012	The bridge remains closed to traffic, despite today's visit by the Princess Royal, while work to resurface the bridge is completed.
4 April 2012	The bridge opened to traffic today.