Garden Bridge

Garden Bridge

Most of the projects this blog has covered are either those whose construction is in progress or has been completed or has just started. Let us take look at one project which was started with great hope but was ultimately cancelled. This is the Garden Bridge project.

“From regenerating old spaces to creating new ones, a proposed pedestrian footbridge over the River Thames in London has been dubbed a “floating paradise garden”. The US$253 million Garden Bridge includes a stunning new public garden and will be covered with foliage, creating an instant landmark. Primary funding is expected to come from private donations, with around US$50 million coming from the UK government.” (KPMG). It would have features more than 250 trees with lots of greenery; doubling as an eco-tourist hotspot.

In August 2017, this project was officially scraped. Why? And what went wrong? Well, for starter, its critics argue that there was no need for the bridge to function in that area. There has been much anger on how effectively public money had been used. Legal rights for sale of land was not cleared. Budget overruns, ego clashes, allegations of favouritism- all these stained the project.

But its intention was necessary, though if not needed now. Garden Bridge might have failed, but many do say it would be the prototype of pedestrian bridges in the future.

A rendering of the bridge (Image Credits: The Independent)