Category: Industrial
Regional contractor Stepnell has completed and officially opened the new West Park Bridge in Long Eaton, replacing a 113-year-old crossing with a striking, lace-inspired structure that connects the town centre to West Park for walkers and cyclists.
The £4.2m, 10-month scheme is the latest public realm project delivered by Stepnell as part of the wider £25m Long Eaton Town Deal regeneration programme, procured through the Procure Partnerships Framework.
Stepnell directly managed the civil engineering, substructure foundation works, heavy lifting logistics and public realm landscaping, with the completion marked by a public opening ceremony.
Celebrating Long Eaton’s lace-making heritage
Designed by Gagarin Studio, the new bridge pays homage to Long Eaton’s historic lace-making industry. The balustrade features vertical galvanised steel fins arranged in a pattern inspired by the wedding lace once produced at Harrington Mills within the Long Eaton Lace Factories Conservation Area, while red painted structural accents reference the repair stitches used in lace making.
The structure replaces a narrow footbridge over the Erewash Canal with a shared deck for walking and cycling and a wider ramp to improve accessibility. New steps connect the bridge to the towpath and the headroom above has been raised, removing a long-standing pinch point on National Cycle Network Route 6.
Stepnell has also created a new waterside terrace with concrete seat steps, inset accoya timber bench tops, a launch deck and resin-bonded gravel paths. The design removes the dark undercrofts of the former bridge to improve natural surveillance across the space.
Delivering complex works in a live public environment
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.”
Environmental and flood risk mitigation
Stepnell coordinated flood risk and ecological mitigation with partners including the Canal and River Trust and the Environment Agency. To compensate for displaced water, a new flood storage scrape was created 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 in collaboration 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.
Tom Wooley, Framework Manager (East) at Procure Partnerships Framework, added:
“We were pleased to support Erewash Borough Council in bringing this project forward through the Procure Partnerships Framework. The two-stage procurement approach was particularly valuable on a project of this complexity, allowing Stepnell to bring its construction expertise into the project early and work through key buildability, sequencing and environmental considerations before construction commenced.”
