Project Outline:

Walters has secured a place on Bristol City Council’s new Highways Asset Management and Civils Framework (2025–2029), reinforcing our position as a trusted delivery partner for complex highway, structural, and civil engineering works. We have been appointed to Lots 5, 6, 7 and 8, covering both general highways civils and specialist structural and steel maintenance across bridges and retaining walls, with a combined potential value of £256m across the four Lots.

This appointment builds on our strong performance on the previous 2021–2025 framework, where we achieved the highest ranking on Lot 6 and Lot 8 - the latter offering a direct award mechanism. As part of the new framework, Walters is already delivering two significant bridge refurbishment projects: Bathurst Bridge and Bath New Bridge.

Project Delivery:

Under the framework, Walters is currently progressing major works on two historic structures within Bristol’s network:

Bathurst Bridge (1905 Swing Bridge) – Walters is undertaking a full refurbishment of this heritage swing bridge at Bathurst Basin. Since beginning on site in April, our teams have removed the existing concrete deck and carefully stripped back historic paintwork to expose and assess the true extent of corrosion on the steel structure. This controlled, investigative approach ensures the refurbishment is both structurally robust and sympathetic to the bridge’s historic character.

Bath New Bridge – This project involves a comprehensive repair and upgrade of the precast concrete bridge. We have already removed the asphalt, kerbs, paving, and surface elements to allow waterproofing of the main structure. A full scaffold has been installed beneath the bridge, providing safe access for concrete repair works while ensuring no disruption to the river environment below. Once repairs and waterproofing are complete, the bridge will be reinstated with upgraded surfacing and finishes.

Across both schemes, Walters is applying rigorous temporary works design, specialist structural repair expertise, and careful sequencing to minimise disruption, protect sensitive environments, and maintain safe access routes throughout construction.

Added Value & Client Partnership:

Walters’ long-standing relationship with Bristol City Council is built on trust, technical capability, and consistently high-quality delivery across previous framework cycles. Our top ranking on Lot 6 and Lot 8 demonstrates the council’s confidence in our ability to manage complex structural, steelwork, and heavy civils packages.

Through early engagement, transparent communication, and collaborative planning, we deliver solutions that prolong asset life, reduce whole-life costs, and maintain the resilience of Bristol’s transport network. Our ongoing performance on Bathurst Bridge and Bath New Bridge further strengthens this partnership, showcasing our ability to manage constrained city-centre environments, heritage structures, and technically demanding repair programmes while upholding safety, sustainability, and programme certainty.