£22m limit for bridge across Clyde
THE budget for a controversial bridge over the River Clyde, which was scheduled to be built by one of Britain's leading architects, has been cut by millions of pounds.
Glasgow City Council scrapped the original plans for the pedestrian and cycle link between Tradeston and Broomielaw, designed by Richard Rogers, after the price of the project soared from £38m to nearly £60m.
Tenders have now been issued for a total of £22m for the bridge, the quay walls, and public areas around the site.
Officials claimed the revised design would still be "attractive and functional" and have produced a European-wide advert offering a £6m contract for a new design and build team for the bridge.
The notice, in the Official Journal of the European Union, also indicated that it would be around two years before it was finally ready.
A separate tender has been put out for a £14-16m contract for work to develop the quay walls and area around the bridge.
A council spokeswoman said: "We have advised the consortium, which includes the Richard Rogers Partnership, that we cannot got ahead with a redesign because it breaks all the rules of European procurement. Therefore, we have to go out to tender for a new bridge design.
"However, on the issue of quay walls and the public realm, we are renegotiating with Faithful & Gould in order to deliver these elements.
"We are going to retender for the bridge in terms of design and who is going to be involved. It is up to the Richard Rogers Partnership to decide if they want to be involved in this process."
It is thought savings will be made through simplifying designs for the bridge and using different materials.
The Richard Rogers Partnership, the architect behind the Millennium Dome, Madrid Barajas airport, and the new Welsh Assembly building, were involved in the original aborted project, but it looks unlikely it will retender.
The bridge was due to be completed next year and remains at the centre of the council's 10-year plan to rejuvenate Glasgow's waterfront and redevelop run-down areas.
The Richard Rogers Partnership declined to comment, but Steven Purcell, the council's leader, has said a new design for the bridge, which had been named Neptune's Way, would still bring commercial and tourist investment into the city.
He said the decision to cut the cost of the bridge was not about "compromising but making sure we deliver quality regeneration without additional burden for Glasgow's taxpayers".
He added: "This will still be a destination which will attract business, residents and tourists."
However, Alan Dunlop, of Gordon Murray and Alan Dunlop architects, a Glasgow-based firm, said a cheaper bridge would not act as a landmark on the Clyde.
He said: "I would question the need for the project at all now when in all likelihood it won't be the iconic structure and marker for a regenerated Clydeside it was originally intended to be. If you need to get across the river at this point, you could use the King George V Bridge, 100 metres further along.
"It's a decent enough structure, functional and will serve it's purpose but it is not a icon of a rebirth of the Clydeside. We now run the risk that the Tradeston Bridge won't be either, so why bother?"