 Shoreham Harbour has enjoyed the convenience of a footbridge since 1921. Now this stretch of tidal salt marsh is spanned by a new and much improved facility, soon to offer pedestrian and cycle access from Shoreham High Street to Lower Beach Road on Shoreham Beach. The project, commissioned by West Sussex County Council, is a realisation of £10 million worth of investment, with Sustrans contributing £770,000 of that budget through the Beak Lottery Fund. To date, the bridge has taken 72,000 man-hours and weighs approximately 700 tonnes. That's the equivalent of 140 adult African elephants. Now the project is drawing close to completion and has been named by local residents as Ada Berry Bridge. The unique challenge in relation to this project has been the fact that it's been a marine and land-based operation. So traditional land-based contracting wouldn't work here and full-on marine working wouldn't work here. So we had to balance the two really. Every stage of the design process has been focused on the modern needs of the community and the river, from discrete low-energy handrail lighting to its Swingbridge system. The central section of the bridge is supported by a mast and cable stay design. This 50-metre platform rests on a mechanism in the central concrete pier of the bridge and can rotate to an open position in just three minutes, allowing ships through. Right from the start the job was involved with the community and actually designing the bridge. The fact that we've got high-level glass to try and keep the wind off the public as they cross the bridge and the full visibility, that's come out of the consultation at the start. And then as the jobs progressed we've had weekly public surgeries where the public's come in and they've given us our feedback and we've been able to respond to that. And the bus replacement service can go and they can enjoy the coast and the town to the full again. Though designers face their own challenges in the conception of the Swingbridge with tidal extremes of up to seven metres construction workers faced a very different set of obstacles. Some of the guys here have worked all sort of kind of hours, sort of late and early mornings just so we can get the work done while we wait for the tide to come in. The delicate nature of the site meant environmental factors had to be taken seriously. Fortunately through careful planning and management works were carried out successfully without having any adverse effects on nesting or wintering birds, ultimately minimising any environmental impact that could have been caused. I'm fairly local so I knew the existing bridge and used it so obviously building an iconic structure on my doorstep was a great pride to me for a personal level and I think it's something that Osborne's the locals and everyone involved with the project should be proud of. It looks like it's going to be a fantastic structure. It's going to be here for many years to come so in terms of meeting the needs of the community and meeting the needs of the client, which is the county I think it's looking like it could be a very successful project. I'm hopeful that the community will take the new bridge to their hearts in the way they much loved the old one and that both Osborne's the contractor, the county and those living adjacent to the new bridge will think it's a successful project. The Ada Ferry Bridge will soon be completed to specification and officially open to the public residents and visitors to Shoreham to once again enjoy the convenience of a footbridge.