The final design for a pedestrian bridge that will connect Govan and Partick has been revealed.

Spanning between Water Row in Govan and Pointhouse Quay at the Riverside Museum, the bridge will be built in the same location where people once crossed the river for hundreds of years. However, they have been unable to do so since the ferry services ended in the 1960s.

The design has changed as the process moved into the detailed and technical design stage following stakeholder feedback and to make the bridge more capable of opening in windy conditions.

The form of the bridge has also been decided by a number of technical constraints including the need to provide a structure capable of opening to accommodate the movement of large vessels on the river.

Once complete, it will become part of an active travel route between communities, businesses, and visitor attractions across both banks of the river.

On Tuesday, February 11, drop-in events will take place at the Riverside Museum from 10am to noon and Govan Cross Shopping Centre from 2pm to 4pm, giving the opportunity to take a virtual reality experience of the proposed bridge.

Glasgow City Council will seek permission to build the bridge in 2020, with plans for construction to start in 2021 and the bridge to be open to the public in 2022.

In 2015, Glasgow City Council hosted a charrette (a public meeting or workshop that typically lasts two or three days looking at design and planning in a particular area) on the regeneration of Govan and Partick.

One of the key themes that emerged was community support for a bridge as a means of re-establishing the historical connections between the communities.  The bridge will be funded by the Glasgow City Region City Deal, which is jointly funded by the UK and Scottish Governments.

Forming part of a new active travel route, the bridge will link Glasgow University Campus on the north bank to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital on the south. 

The proposed bridge is already acting as an incentive for development with the university exploring the creation of a new Waterfront Innovation Campus on vacant and derelict land to the north of the hospital, as well as the Glasgow Riverside Innovation District on both banks of the Clyde.

It will also help establish a cross-river Cultural Quarter linking the likes of the Riverside Museum and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to Govan Old Parish Church and Fairfield Heritage Centre on or close to the South Bank.

The bridge - designed by Jacobs - will span from Water Row in Govan on the south bank to an extended quay wall on the north bank of the river adjacent to the Riverside Museum. The extended quay wall will ensure the bridge does not obscure views of the Riverside Museum.

The bridge will be a cable stayed swing bridge and the deck will be 115 metres long with a rotating central span of 68 metres - making it one of the largest opening footbridges in Europe.

It has also been confirmed that the bridge will provide enough space for use by pedestrians and cyclists.  The bridge will offer ‘step-free’ access making it usable for those in wheelchairs and pushing buggies.

The bridge deck will be supported by a tower 28.5 metres high.  The design of the tower is intended to evoke historical references such as the cranes of the Govan Shipyard.