News: Using the river to link together Rotherham regeneration schemes
A £4.4m improvement scheme along the riverside will help open up new sites for development and connect them to Forge Island and new public space in Rotherham town centre.
Delivered by Esh Construction on behalf of Rotherham Council, the project, which completed last year, included the construction of a new access road and a riverside footpath linking Water Lane to the town centre, alongside extensive landscaping and infrastructure upgrades.
Works involved cut and fill operations, deep drainage, invasive weed removal, pavement construction, and the installation of gabion baskets to form a retaining wall feature. The project also included cosmetic repairs to the existing masonry river wall, carried out by rope access-trained personnel.
A key component of the scheme saw complex piling works used to futureproof the riverbank and support the walkway along the River Don.
Michael Sherrard, construction manager at Esh Construction, said: "The sheet piling was quite complicated. The piles themselves were about six tonnes each. The ground itself was not very stable so we had to look carefully at the plant we used to support the stability of the existing river wall."
Over 250 sheet piles - 127 pairs measuring between 14-18 metres in length - were installed over a five-week period.
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Cllr. John Williams, Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy at Rotherham Council, said: "Now the Riverside Walk project has been completed, it’s a really important step for our town centre — it’s going to provide a lot of benefits for visitors and residents who come here.
"Immediately it’s providing a new riverside access between our residential sites right through to the town centre and over to Forge Island. It’s really important to provide that connection, because now we’ve got the hotel, we’ve got the restaurants, we’ve got a lot of independent offerings in the town centre, and it’s just providing that really good access between both sides of the town.
"It’s really opened up the river, it’s providing access where people didn’t have it before to enjoy the scenery and to enjoy the riverside new walk."
Riverside Gardens is a new public space on the opposite side of the River Don to Forge Island. The £4.1m project got underway last year and includes proposals for accessible routes from Market Street and Domine Lane, soft landscaped terraces, a riverside walk offering views of the River Don, natural play for children, new seating and improvements to footpaths and public spaces along Corporation Street.
At the other end of the new riverside walk is the Riverside Residential Quarter on Westgate and Sheffield Road. Acquisition of under used and derelict land and property by the council has been ongoing since 2021 with multimllion pound developments such as Westgate Riverside and Millfold Rise bringing new housing to the area.
Sites such as the large car park and newly acquired SIG Roofing yard are next in line for residential redevelopment.
Andrew Bramidge, Strategic Director for Regeneration and Environment at Rotherham Council, said: "This [the riverside walk] is a huge infrastructure project to take forward that wider regeneration.
"The site that has been left vacant, now currently a temporary car park, is going to be transformed into new housing developments and we hope to be moving forward with that in the next couple of years. We’re developing a new Riverside Gardens, so that is complementary to what’s been done here, and will create more green space."
Both the Riverside Walk and Riverside Gardens have utilised funding from the government's Town Deal, know renamed as the Local Regeneration Fund. The Riverside Walk project was delayed after it was "rescoped" in 2023 in order to remove the proposed new bridge that would have joined to the Guest & Chrimes site and the New York Stadium.
Images: ESH
Delivered by Esh Construction on behalf of Rotherham Council, the project, which completed last year, included the construction of a new access road and a riverside footpath linking Water Lane to the town centre, alongside extensive landscaping and infrastructure upgrades.
Works involved cut and fill operations, deep drainage, invasive weed removal, pavement construction, and the installation of gabion baskets to form a retaining wall feature. The project also included cosmetic repairs to the existing masonry river wall, carried out by rope access-trained personnel.
A key component of the scheme saw complex piling works used to futureproof the riverbank and support the walkway along the River Don.
Michael Sherrard, construction manager at Esh Construction, said: "The sheet piling was quite complicated. The piles themselves were about six tonnes each. The ground itself was not very stable so we had to look carefully at the plant we used to support the stability of the existing river wall."
Over 250 sheet piles - 127 pairs measuring between 14-18 metres in length - were installed over a five-week period.
Advertisement
Cllr. John Williams, Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy at Rotherham Council, said: "Now the Riverside Walk project has been completed, it’s a really important step for our town centre — it’s going to provide a lot of benefits for visitors and residents who come here.
"Immediately it’s providing a new riverside access between our residential sites right through to the town centre and over to Forge Island. It’s really important to provide that connection, because now we’ve got the hotel, we’ve got the restaurants, we’ve got a lot of independent offerings in the town centre, and it’s just providing that really good access between both sides of the town.
"It’s really opened up the river, it’s providing access where people didn’t have it before to enjoy the scenery and to enjoy the riverside new walk."
At the other end of the new riverside walk is the Riverside Residential Quarter on Westgate and Sheffield Road. Acquisition of under used and derelict land and property by the council has been ongoing since 2021 with multimllion pound developments such as Westgate Riverside and Millfold Rise bringing new housing to the area.
Sites such as the large car park and newly acquired SIG Roofing yard are next in line for residential redevelopment.
Andrew Bramidge, Strategic Director for Regeneration and Environment at Rotherham Council, said: "This [the riverside walk] is a huge infrastructure project to take forward that wider regeneration.
"The site that has been left vacant, now currently a temporary car park, is going to be transformed into new housing developments and we hope to be moving forward with that in the next couple of years. We’re developing a new Riverside Gardens, so that is complementary to what’s been done here, and will create more green space."
Both the Riverside Walk and Riverside Gardens have utilised funding from the government's Town Deal, know renamed as the Local Regeneration Fund. The Riverside Walk project was delayed after it was "rescoped" in 2023 in order to remove the proposed new bridge that would have joined to the Guest & Chrimes site and the New York Stadium.
Images: ESH
5 comments:
Be interesting to see if the sand martins come back next year,cos when I walked down there ,it looked like the piling works had destroyed there nesting area.Sad if they don't,just for a path .
It'll no doubt become a place for strange men to loiter.
Another knocked up Low rise scheme will be built, Too frightened to build high rise developments Toytown is Correct
What a load of moaning posters this blog attracts!
Bore off
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