
Caring for the Environment
The Avon Gorge is a special place - home to many rare and nationally scarce flora and fauna. We've made careful plans to ensure that our works do not have an impact on the natural environment.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge spans the Avon Gorge, a nationally designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and one of the principal nature conservation sites in the southwest. The Gorge is recognised for its exceptional number of nationally rare plants and for its exposures of Carboniferous Limestone, which are of great geological interest.
When planning maintenance projects and other works, the Trust works alongside organisations such as Natural England and the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project to mitigate against any impact on the local environment. To ensure that no paint flakes fall into the gorge, the painters will be working in enclosed ‘pods’, removing loose paint by hand. Pressuried air may be used to help with this process, but sand blasting will be avoided so no debris will be produced.
A compound for the works will be established on the Clifton side of the bridge. Site plans must be approved by the Downs Ranger, and protection installed around existing trees to ensure there can be no damage to their root systems. Once works are complete, these grassy areas will be returned to the condition in which they were found.
As part of the process, new illuminations will be installed on the bridge. This system will provide cutting edge, visually stunning, low energy, environmentally friendly and sustainable illuminations as well as increasing the level of illumination on the ground in order to enhance the safety of pedestrians and cyclists during the hours of darkness.
In preparation for the installation of the new system, a bat survey was carried out by the Landmark Practice. The survey recorded 54,000 bat calls from at least 11 species of bats including the Noctule, Leisler’s, common and soprano pipistrelle, brown long eared, and greater and lesser horseshoe bats. The survey concluded that the reduction of light pollution and the use of warmer whites would benefit species of bat that are more sensitive to light.
Baseline noise monitoring will be carried out before the project starts to help us measure any increase in noise. Noise levels during the works will be kept to a minimum. We are not planning to work for any significant period at night across the duration of the project.