Garden Bridge at risk from Thames Tideway clash

摘要

The trustees of the planned Thames Garden Bridge are facing a race against time to complete the major works of the £175m project before early 2017 - if they don't, they could be forced to abandon the project to avoid clashing with the development of Thames Tideway Tunnel. Construction of the bridge could be put back by a decade, halted half-finished or scrapped entirely if the judicial review, which is due to be heard in the High Court by June, results in further delays to the construction timetable of the Thomas Heatherwick-designed bridge in central London, planning documents for the projects imply. Most of the major works on the bridge - including closing the central river channel of the Thames to build the central span - need to be finished before the major work on the £4.2bn super-sewer begins in 2017, according to planning documents for both projects. Work was initially expected to start this year, according to reports, but has already been pushed back, in part due to the judicial review challenge, and is now due to begin January 2016.