The River Roch, which has been hidden underneath Rochdale town centre for more than a century, has been uncovered, alongside its historic bridge, as part of a wider £250m regeneration programme.
- Sector
- Public
- Tags
- Grade II
- Service
- Conservation architecture
We acted as conservation architect for the project, specifying repairs to the surviving upstream and downstream arches and facings as well as designing new parapets at street level.
Matching grit-stone masonry was obtained from a nearby quarry, a likely source of the original bridge materials. This was then hand-dressed to match the existing one.
The upstream and downstream cut-water piers were designed in matching stone and have been shaped to minimise the effects of the fast-flowing river on the bridge itself. The design of the new work has been based on bridges of a similar period and on an old illustration.
And the river re-opening also has an even more tangible benefit. It reduced flood risk for 40 properties in our town centre; that’s 40 businesses whose livelihoods depend on being able to stay open all year round, 40 businesses who bring money into the local economy and employ local residents.
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