The Braunstone Gate Bridge (also known as the Bowstring Bridge) was a former railway bridge carrying the Great Central Railway, and later a public footpath and cycleway, over Western Boulevard and the River Soar in Leicester, England. The bridge had been in a poor state of repair following years of neglect by the local council and it was demolished to facilitate developments for De Montfort University. The Council claimed that the costs of restoration were prohibitive.
History
The Great Central Railway, which opened on 15 March 1899, was the last main line to be built linking the north of England with London, and crossed Leicester on a Staffordshire blue brick viaduct, over a mile and a half long and comprising 97 brick arches and 16 fine girder bridges of differing designs and dimensions, spanning various thoroughfares, the River Soar and its associated canal. This complex and costly structure began to the north of the River Soar and included two impressive bowstring lattice girder bridges. The first in Northgate Street was demolished in 1981 but the larger second, spanning Braunstone Gate, remained for a further 28 years. Known locally as the "Bowstring Bridge", it contained steel lattice girders of on the east side and on the west, both reaching a maximum depth of in their respective centres. The total weight of the bridge was in excess of 400 tons (407 tonnes). The bridge was described as "unique" from an engineering point of view as the main supports on either side were not parallel, meaning that the two supporting girders had to be of different lengths. The bridge was built by Henry Lovatt of Wolverhampton and was one of the last surviving girder structures from the Great Central's London Extension.
Following the closure of this section of the Great Central on 5 May 1969, much of the railway infrastructure in Leicester was demolished. A surviving length of viaduct from Duns Lane to Glen Parva, including the Bowstring Bridge, was purchased by Leicester City Council in the 1970s for a token payment. The Council subsequently received a Manpower Services Commission grant to engage craftsmen to supervise young people painting the bridge in green and cream colours. The bridge, viaduct and land nearby, including the Pump and Tap pub, were proposed to be sold to De Montfort University whose university campus adjoined the site of the Bowstring Bridge. The bridge was used to carry the Great Central Way, a footpath and cycleway following part of the disused railway line, until 1997 when the demolition of the adjoining Kirby & West dairy forced the cycleway on to the road. The section of the viaduct north of the site (including the Bowstring Bridge) went unmaintained and subsequently became derelict.
In 2002, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport refused an application to list the bridge as a monument to the city's industrial heritage.
Demolition
De Montfort University redevelopment
In 2005, Leicester City Council proposed to demolish the bridge to allow De Montfort University to expand its John Sandford sports hall and build a swimming pool in a £6 million development. The Council claimed that the bridge had to be removed as a report revealed that it could barely support its own weight and would not last another year without major repairs. According to the report, the then 108-year-old bridge was "approaching the end of a normal life span of 120 years" and could have lasted "long into the future if only a pro-active maintenance strategy had been in place. Unfortunately, lack of funding and the demise of this section of the railway are instrumental in the extremely poor condition of the structure components. The bridge, which once carried a railway, can only carry its own weight". The report estimated the costs of restoration at between £250,000 and £270,000.
Temporary reprieve
The bridge had a last-minute reprieve in July 2005 when, just before a meeting at which councillors were about to vote on its demolition, an email was sent to them by Richard Tilden-Smith of the heritage Great Central Railway urging them to postpone a decision until experts could examine the state of the bridge. He indicated that, if the bridge were saved, it might still be possible to extend his organisation's operations through Leicester, with funding possibly coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The cabinet agreed to give the bridge more time. Two weeks later, the heritage railway pulled out of talks with the Council, stating that the restoration works would be too expensive and would not fit in with the Council's timetable for the area.