Work due to start on new Govan-Partick bridge in January

The £29.5m scheme will see a new pedestrian/cycle bridge over the River Clyde, connecting Water Row with Pointhouse Quay.

Construction firm Farrans (Construction) Ltd is recommended to receive the contract, and a city council committee will be asked to approve the deal on Thursday.

The new bridge is a Glasgow City Region City Deal project, with funding provided from the Scottish and UK Governments, and final approval of the contract is expected at a City Region cabinet meeting next month.

Cllr Susan Aitken, chair of the Glasgow City Region Cabinet, said: “The award of this contract will mark a key stage in a project which will be transformative for the Clyde waterfront and the city region.

“The Govan-Partick bridge will not only provide an active travel connection between the West End and the South Side of the city, but will directly create new jobs, apprenticeships, training and other opportunities, as well as complementing a number of other ongoing or forthcoming major regeneration projects that stretch all the way from the University of Glasgow to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.”

Work is expected to begin on site in January 2022, with a completion date towards the end of 2023.

It is hoped the bridge will be “economically, environmentally and socially important” as it will link communities and visitor attractions and become part of an active travel route between the University of Glasgow’s campus at Gilmorehill and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

When plans for the fabricated steel cable-stayed swing bridge were submitted, it was described as “one of the longest opening footbridges in Europe”, with a 115m long deck and a rotating centre span of 68m.

The project will also see the demolition of a section of quay wall and access stairs at Water Row and the construction of a sheet piled quay wall and infilling to ground level to extend Pointhouse Quay to form the north bridge landing, with an access ramp.

It will involve constructing a reinforced quay wall and infilling the disused Govan Ferry inlet at Water Row to form the south landing, and bridge approach ramps will be built at both landing sites.

There will also be public realm works and feature lighting, and the Scottish Water Combined Sewer Outfall at Pointhouse Quay will be diverted.

Ten contractors submitted bids for the contract and those scored in the top five were invited to submit a tender. Three tenders were received and Farrans has been selected as the highest scoring on a criteria which included price, quality, design and construction impact.

It is expected that 143 construction jobs will be supported through the project, including starts for 11 new employees and five new apprentices.

There will also be school mentoring and work placement opportunities.

It is believed building the bridge will complement public and private sector investments on both sides of the Clyde, including the University of Glasgow’s development of a Clyde Waterfront Innovation Campus next to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and housing plans at Water Row.

Other schemes set to benefit are Therme’s proposed £100m water park and spa resort at Glasgow Harbour and plans for more than 1000 homes at Yorkhill Quay.

Once the bridge is in place, there will be a 23 per cent increase in jobs that are accessible within a 20-minute walk of Govan Cross and an 87 per cent increase in the number of jobs within a 10-minute cycle of Govan Cross.