Information Note RVD Footbridge – May 2026

INFORMATION NOTE ON RVD FOOTBRIDGE — May 2026

1. The Royal Victoria Dock (RVD) Footbridge is a high-level bridge which bisects RVD and provides a route from Excel (close to the DLR Custom House Station) over to Britannia Village. It had two lifts that were installed at each end of the bridge. These lifts were poorly designed for the situation. The top of the lifts is open to the elements and should have been fully enclosed. This has caused numerous issues over the years. The lifts are now beyond their economic/operational life and have real reliability issues, regardless of the sums of money which are spent on them. All attempts to get these lifts going have now ceased and metal covers have been placed over the doors to prevent access, prevent further vandalism and risk to the general public.
2. Royal Docks Waterways (RDW) are responsible for the maintenance, refurbishment and replacement of the RVD Footbridge. In 2014 it was announced that the developer for the Silvertown Quays (Millennium Mills) had included in their design a new bridge at dock level to cross RVD from the same location on the Excel side to link up with the new development and provide direct access from the planned Crossrail Station. The intention was to have an opening (swing bridge) mechanism to allow vessels to pass into the western end of RVD. The plan was that the high-level bridge would then be removed. At this point it was decided that no further options would be considered for replacement of the lifts and that their life would be extended until the new bridge was constructed. This was delayed when the investor pulled out of the development but was recommenced by the new developer, Lendlease, in 2018.
3. A decision was made by the GLA to retain the high-level bridge and in the bridge agreement Lendlease became responsible for all the refurbishment works specified by RDW required of the existing bridge to make it fully operational. This included the lifts. There was no timeline included in the bridge agreement, so this has been on hold while Lendlease have been securing the S106 agreement for the new bridge. Now this is in place, Lendlease will turn to rectification of the lifts. This will need to be in place before the new bridge commences construction. Meanwhile, RDW have continued to refurbish the wooden decking and supporting structure as required.
4. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause the people which live and work around the area, but we are in the hands of Lendlease.