Princes Quays Bridge | McDowell+Benedetti

Work is due to begin in January 2016 on the Princes Quay bridge in Hull after planning permission was granted by Hull City Council. The new landmark bridge is to open during the city’s UK City of Culture celebrations in 2017. The bridge is being delivered as an early phase of a major project by Highways England to upgrade the A63.

The Princes Quay bridge will span over the heavily trafficked A63 road, helping to re-connect Hull’s city centre, Old Town and Princes Quay areas to the Marina, Fruit Market and Humber dock to the south.

The bridge has been designed by lead designer Arup working with architects McDowell+Benedetti. Balfour Beatty is the main ECI contractor.

The bridge will provide an attractive and safe connection, accessible to the widest range of people, to reduce the current severance between the areas at each side of the major road. The distinctive form of the bridge creates a memorable landmark and acts as a gateway to the Old Town. The landscaped approaches to the bridge are designed as a series of distinctive public spaces for people to enjoy the waterside and views over the historic town and Humber. The design provides a choice of multiple routes, connecting in every direction to ensure the new place will be well integrated into Hull’s townscape.

The bridge deck itself is suspended from an elegant steel hybrid arched-shell structure which also acts as a canopy to provide shelter for people using the crossing, particularly at the viewing balconies created at each end of the bridge.

The landscaped approaches are banked up towards the road, providing the necessary sloping paths while screening the public spaces from traffic. The north side has a predominantly soft-landscaped character, with trees and ornamental grasses, while the south includes paved terraces with integrated ramps and steps to give grandstand views over the marina.

The first phase will deliver the distinctive bridge and landscaped public spaces on either side. The £11.5 million bridge is being funded by Highways England with a £4m contribution by Hull City Council which was awarded by the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership.

McDowell+Benedetti and Arup were also part of the team that delivered the award-winning Scale Lane swing bridge over the River Hull, which opened nearby in 2013.