Stepnell completes £4.2m West Park Bridge over Erewash Canal in Long Eaton

Stepnell has completed the £4.2m West Park Bridge in Long Eaton, a lace-inspired steel crossing over the Erewash Canal that links the town centre to West Park for walkers and cyclists.

The contractor announced completion on 9 October. Erewash Borough Council said the bridge opened to the public from 2pm on Saturday 19 September 2026.

Stepnell said the scheme, which it describes as a 10-month programme, was procured through the Procure Partnerships Framework and is its latest public realm project under the £25m Long Eaton Town Deal. The company directly managed the civil engineering, substructure foundations, heavy lifting logistics and public realm landscaping.

Tom Sewell, director at Stepnell, said the job involved 124 tonnes of curved steel over a flowing canal, beside a busy towpath, during a period of severe flood events that affected West Park's flood storage reservoir. He said: "our offsite expertise meant we could run a trial assembly before building onsite, ensuring public and ecological disruption was minimised and allowing the towpath to reopen in June".

The design

Gagarin Studio designed the bridge. Its balustrade uses vertical galvanised steel fins arranged in a pattern inspired by the wedding lace once made at Harrington Mills, with red painted structural accents that reference the repair stitches used in lacemaking, Stepnell said. The practice describes the balustrades as forming a lightweight ribbon across the canal.

The new structure replaces a narrow footbridge with a shared walking and cycling deck and a wider ramp. New steps connect to the towpath and the headroom has been raised, which Stepnell said removes a long-standing pinch point on National Cycle Network Route 6.

Stepnell also built a waterside terrace with concrete seat steps, inset accoya timber bench tops, a launch deck and resin-bonded gravel paths. The dark undercrofts of the old bridge have been removed to improve natural surveillance.

To compensate for displaced water, a new flood storage scrape was created in the neighbouring Fox Covert Local Nature Reserve, with an ecological clerk of works protecting water voles and wetland habitat during the build. Stepnell said it coordinated flood risk and ecological mitigation with partners including the Canal and River Trust and the Environment Agency.

Programme and procurement

The council said the old metal bridge, which had stood for more than a century, closed to pedestrians on 6 November 2025. Crews were due to begin dismantling it on 2 March 2026, according to the council, and the new arch was craned into place about four months before the opening. In late 2025 the council had expected construction to finish during August 2026.

The £4.2m was funded from the £5.7m walking and cycling package within the Town Deal. The design was shaped with Erewash Borough Council, the Town Deal Board, Friends of West Park, Long Eaton Victoria Angling Society and Blue Tonic, an East Midlands water safety charity.

Tom Wooley, framework manager (East) at Procure Partnerships Framework, said: "The two-stage procurement approach was particularly valuable on a project of this complexity, allowing Stepnell to bring its construction expertise into the project early".

The name was chosen after a public naming exercise. The council said a shortlist was drawn from public suggestions before the Long Eaton Town Deal Board held a vote, with other candidates paying tribute to the town's lacemaking history.

Second Town Deal bridge

The crossing is Stepnell's second Town Deal bridge in Long Eaton within three months. On 16 July 2026 it announced completion of a £2.1m pedestrian and cycle bridge at Britannia Mills, also procured through the Procure Partnerships East Midlands Framework under a two-stage route.

Scheme	Cost
West Park Bridge	£4.2m
Britannia Mills bridge	£2.1m

Richard Ledger, chair of the Long Eaton Town Deal Board, said at the time that more than 100 affordable homes had been built at Britannia Mills, a former lace-making complex. The Town Deal has also funded new lighting and an events field in West Park, according to the council.

A mural by street artists on the rear of the Sankey Upholstery building beside the canal was funded through the council's £6.5m Erewash Investment Fund.

Stepnell, a family-owned business established in 1867, said it is based nearby in Beeston and operates from six regional offices in Nottingham, Rugby, Wantage, Bristol, Southampton and Poole.