Barker Crossing
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Barker Crossing was a pedestrian footbridge in
Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...
, Cumbria, England that crossed the River Derwent, and linked the north and south sides of the town. Army engineers built it in November 2009 after flooding put the town's bridges out of use, and removed it in February 2011. The bridge was named after police officer Bill Barker, who died when the Northside Bridge in Workington collapsed below him.


History

During the
November 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods The 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods were a weather event that affected parts of Great Britain and Ireland throughout November and into December 2009. November was the wettest month across the United Kingdom since records began in 1914 and ...
, all four road and pedestrian bridges in
Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...
were either swept away, or severely damaged, leaving one sound railway bridge crossing the River Derwent in the town. This left the residents with a trip to get from one side of the Derwent to the other. On 30 November 2009,
Workington North railway station Workington North railway station was a temporary railway station in Cumbria, United Kingdom, constructed following floods which cut all road access to Workington town centre from north of the River Derwent. The station was located north of ...
was opened allowing people to travel by train between the north and south sides.


Construction

Foundations on the river banks were started on 27 November 2009 and used 4,000 tonnes of aggregate. The 110 tonne, 52 metre single-span
Mabey Logistic Support Bridge The Mabey Logistic Support Bridge (in the United States, the Mabey-Johnson Bridge) is a portable pre-fabricated truss bridge, designed for use by military engineering units to upgrade routes for heavier traffic, replace civilian bridges damaged ...
was constructed in Mill Field, on the south bank, and launched across the river, with its "nose" landing on the north bank on 4 December. The bridge was then pushed onto the north bank, and a steel deck laid.
Street furniture Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed along streets and roads for various purposes. It includes bench (furniture), benches, traffic barriers, bollards, post boxes, phone boxes, streetlamps, traffic ...
including lighting was added, and the bridge opened to the public just after 08:00 (GMT) on 7 December 2009. The bridge was constructed by
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
of 3 Armoured Engineer Squadron, 22 Engineer regiment based at
Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately west of Andover, sout ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
. They worked 24 hours a day in adverse weather conditions including driving rain much of the week and temperatures as low as -8C.


Naming

The bridge was named in honour of PC Bill Barker who drowned in the River Derwent in
Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...
in the early morning of 20 November 2009. Barker was on the damaged Northside Bridge, stopping traffic from using it. The bridge was swept away beneath him. His body was washed up on a beach at
Allonby Allonby is a village on the coast of Cumberland in Cumbria, England. The village is on the B5300 road north of Maryport and south of Silloth. The village of Mawbray is to the north, and to the east is the village of Westnewton, Carlisle ...
. He left a widow, Hazel, and four children. The bridge was named after Barker following a campaign by teenagers from Workington launched on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. Barker joined the police on 3 January 1984, at age 19. He worked on Brigham Traffic Control, then the Western Mobile Support Group which then became the Western Roads Policing Unit. He was a family liaison officer. In August 1997, he received a chief constable’s commendation for his courage and tenacity during a pursuit with a
Land Rover Discovery The Land Rover Discovery is a series of five or seven-seater family SUVs, produced under the Land Rover marque, from the British manufacturer Land Rover, and later Jaguar Land Rover. The series is currently in its fifth iteration (or generat ...
in the Keswick area; it rammed his car twice. The then
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
described him as a "very heroic, very brave man". On 27 November 2009, he was buried at
Egremont, Cumbria Egremont is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, south of Whitehaven and on the River Ehen. The parish also ...
. His funeral was the lead item on the
BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...
6 o'clock news. The next day,
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
met his family in private. The
inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...
into Barker's death opened on 13 October 2010 at
Cleator Moor Cleator Moor is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The parish was historically called Cleator. During the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the new settlement of Cleator Moor was built on the moo ...
civic hall. On 15 October 2010 the inquest ruled that Barker's death was an accident.


Closure

On 14 February 2011 work began to remove the bridge, which was no longer needed as the repaired Calva Bridge was due to reopen to pedestrians that day.


References

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External links


ITN news report on the bridge opening.Animated build of a Mabey Bridge


* https://web.archive.org/web/20120220035750/http://www.timesandstar.co.uk/mourners_applaud_brave_workington_pc_bill_barker_at_egremont_funeral_1_643735?referrerPath=home * https://web.archive.org/web/20120307135726/http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/cumbria_floods/pc_bill_barker_s_family_meet_prince_charles_1_644009?referrerPath=%2Fnews_round-up_1_50001 Pedestrian bridges in England Bridges completed in 2009 Bridges in Cumbria Workington