Taziker Completes Clifton Suspension Bridge Restoration
Published 13th October 2026
Taziker has completed the largest restoration in the history of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Grade I listed crossing of the Avon Gorge in Bristol. Working for the Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust since April 2024, our teams have protected the bridge's historic ironwork for the next 25 years while keeping it open to pedestrians and traffic throughout the main phases of work.
Protecting 180-year-old ironwork
The bridge's chains hold more than 4,000 original iron links, many of them over 180 years old. Each link was prepared and painted by hand to protect it against corrosion. The gorge is exposed and tidal, and years of coastal weathering had taken their toll on the ironwork, so our access, surface preparation and coatings teams planned every stage around the weather and the need to keep the bridge in use.
Jon Turton, Project Manager at Taziker, said: "Protecting chains this old, in a gorge this exposed, set us engineering challenges you won't find on any other structure. The work our team has completed secures Brunel's original ironwork for the next 25 years, and we're proud to have played our part in the bridge's history."
A bridge that stayed open
The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a daily route between Clifton and Leigh Woods and one of Bristol's best-known visitor attractions. Keeping it open during the major phases of the restoration meant phasing the access and encapsulation so that people and vehicles could continue to cross safely alongside live works.
New LED lighting
As part of the wider scheme, the bridge's outdated floodlights have been replaced with an energy-efficient LED system designed to reduce light pollution over the neighbouring nature reserve. The new lighting also lets the Trust run themed displays for local events, previewed during the Bristol Light Festival and British Science Week.
Funded by the people who cross it
The multi-million-pound restoration was funded entirely by bridge tolls, with no council or central government money. Tristan Ralph, Bridge Master, described the completion as a defining moment for the bridge, and thanked everyone who crosses it for helping to fund its care.
The project builds on Taziker's long record on heritage structures, including the Iron Bridge in Shropshire, the Royal Albert Bridge and the Tay Rail Bridge.
