Poole Bridge (also known as Poole Lifting Bridge and Hamworthy Bridge) is a bascule bridge in

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

, Dorset, England. Constructed in 1927, the bridge provides a road link across a busy boating channel. In February 2012 a second bridge was completed intending to operate in conjunction with the existing bridge

Location

Poole Bridge is situated on the western end of Poole Quay and spans across a narrow channel between Poole Harbour and Holes Bay, a tidal inland lake which lies to the north of the harbour. The bridge provides a road link as part of the A350 road between Poole's town centre and the suburb of Hamworthy, avoiding a journey of around Holes Bay.

History

The existing bridge is the third to be located on the site. William Ponsonby, a Member of Parliament for Poole, was responsible for building the first bridge in 1834. Ponsonby promoted his own Act of Parliament to build the wooden toll bridge at a cost of £9,612. However, the bridge had a steep gradient that caused problems for horses and in 1885 it was replaced by an iron swing bridge with gentler approach gradients. It was privately owned and collected tolls up until 1926, when it was purchased by the

Borough of Poole Poole Borough Council was the unitary authority responsible for Local government in England, local government in the Poole, Borough of Poole, Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 1997 following a review by the Local Government Commission fo ...

and replaced with the third and present bridge which opened in on 11 March 1927. The opening ceremony included a blue ribbon cut by the Mayor, as well as a visit from "Father Neptune". It has seven time-tabled lifts a day and another ten unscheduled lifts for commercial boats and it is estimated to lift over 6,000 times a year. Poole Borough Council marked the bridge as worn out with cracks appearing in the concrete, closing