Project Iron Bridge: Conservationists "amazed and touched" by response
Those behind the major conservation project to restore the Iron Birdge say they are "amazed and touched" by the public response to a crowd funding campaign.
Since launching on Monday morning, more than 500 people have donated more than £25,00 to help save the Iron Bridge as part of project by English Heritage.
In response the charity has extended its appeal by £15,000 in the hope that further donations will contribute towards the final part of Project Iron Bridge – painting the bridge and thereby ensuring that the industrial icon will be protected from the elements for decades to come.
Currently, the total online is more than £28,000.
Morgan Cowles, head of conservation maintenance at English Heritage, said: “We are amazed and touched by the response so far. In less than 48 hours, over 500 people rallied to help save the bridge and we are hugely grateful to everyone for their generosity.
“The Iron Bridge still needs your help. We are asking people to support the final part of our project – painting the 378 ton masterpiece. This will protect the bridge from the wind and the rain for decades to come.
“It’s a painstaking and delicate job, carried out high above the River Severn. Our specialist conservators will use paint that is both sensitive to the historic iron and closely matches the original colour of the bridge.
“With your support, we can make it happen.”
The Iron Bridge is under threat from cracking due to stresses in the ironwork dating from the original construction and ground movement over the centuries. English Heritage will now start to clean and conserve, repair and – where necessary – reinforce the different elements of the bridge: the iron radials and braces holding the bridge together, the deck plates and wedges, as well as the main iron arch itself.
At £3.6m, Project Iron Bridge is English Heritage’s single largest conservation project since it became a charity in 2015. The Hermann Reemtsma Foundation has donated €1m towards the project while the rest of the money – in addition to that secured through the crowd-funding appeal – will come from English Heritage’s conservation budget, which is itself generously supported by donors.
To donate to Project Iron Bridge, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/project-iron-bridge/.
