Corinna was having a pint and a g&t at V-Shed Wetherspoons beside Peros Bridge when she heard a tremendous crash around 10:00am. Bristol then closed the bridge after witnesses described it as having failed a maintenance check and left hanging into Bristol Harbour.
“Pero’s bridge (City Centre) just failed its maintenance check and now the middle is hanging into the harbour,” Corinna said. She also said, “We heard a tremendous crash and lots of people shouting,” after she and Andrea were near the bridge.
St Augustine's Reach
Peros Bridge spans St Augustine's Reach in Bristol Harbour and opened in 1999. The bridge is named after Pero Jones. Public foot traffic was diverted via the Cascade Steps while two workers in high viz were allowed onto the main structure to inspect it on Thursday afternoon.
Emily Jay at the fence
Emily Jay said she arrived just as a fence was being put across blocking people and heard that it had collapsed right in front of her. Another witness said, “We were at the V-Shed heard what sounded like a crack, looked up and could see it come crashing down.”
Bristol City Council had not said what happened at the time witnesses described the collapse, and a witness said no person was on the bridge at the time. Another witness said engineers seemed to be testing it, while one described hydraulic pressure that he believed failed. For people trying to cross the harbour route, the bridge stayed shut while the inspection work continued.
