The bridge’s design, delivered under the £25m Town Deal regeneration programme, uses vertical galvanised steel fins in a pattern that pays homage to the historic wedding lace made at Harrington Mills, within the Long Eaton Lace Factories Conservation Area.
Stepnell directly managed the civil engineering, substructure foundation works, heavy lifting logistics and public realm landscaping.
Tom Sewell, director at Stepnell, said: “The bridge connecting Long Eaton town centre with West Park needed upgrading into a functional piece of high-quality engineering to support the town centre’s long-term growth plans. We engaged extensively with local community stakeholders, the design team and our local supply chain to ensure the finished bridge adequately reflects Long Eaton’s needs as well as celebrating its heritage.
“The environment made the project quite complex, with 124 tonnes of curved steel over a flowing canal, operating next to a high footfall towpath and coordinating the project during a period that included severe flood events that impacted West Park’s flood storage reservoir. However, our offsite expertise meant we could run a trial assembly before building onsite, ensuring public and ecological disruption was minimised and allowing the towpath to reopen in June.”
The new structure replaces a narrow footbridge over the Erewash Canal with a shared deck for walking and cycling as well as a wider ramp to increase accessibility. Steps have been added to connect the bridge to the towpath while the headroom above the towpath has also been raised, removing a long-standing pinch point on National Cycle Network Route 6.
Stepnell has also created a waterside terrace with concrete seat steps, inset accoya timber bench tops, a launch deck and resin-bonded gravel paths. The design removes dark undercrofts of the former bridge to improve natural surveillance across the space.
Stepnell coordinated flood risk and ecological mitigation with partners including the Canal and River Trust and Environment Agency. To compensate for displaced water, Stepnell created a new flood storage scrape in the neighbouring Fox Covert Local Nature Reserve, with an ecological clerk of works overseeing protection of water voles and wetland habitat throughout the build.
The £4.2m project was funded through the £5.7m walking and cycling package within the Long Eaton Town Deal. The design was shaped with Erewash Borough Council, the Town Deal Board, Friends of West Park, Long Eaton Victoria Angling Society and Blue Tonic, an East Midlands charity that engages young people in water safety.