End of the road for Bristol landmark

A modern day tragedy has struck one of Bristol City Centre’s landmarks.

Having spent more than ten years as a central meeting point for friends and family, the Shipless Sail, officially known as the Sail Structure on The Centre is to be dismantled this weekend after an engineering report showed significant and serious weaknesses.

The structure was originally installed back in 1996 on the Anchor Road.

It was re-located to the City Centre Promenade in 1998-1999 and slapped in some preservative and a protective top coat.

This has failed to save the work after its annual structural survey in 2006 revealed alarming weaknesses.

More work to save the sail was carried out in 2007 and 2008 to mend timber splits and decay around bolts.

The structure was made from glulam, a glue laminated timber, and held together with metal rods and bolts.

The combination of this limited material coupled with the exposure to the harsh British weather for more than a decade has proved to be too much and this is the reason behind its demise.

Cabinet member for transport and sustainability,  Councillor Jon Rogers said: “We have taken expert advice, looked at the options available to us and decided to dismantle the Sail Structure as matter of urgency.”

“The safety of the public must always be our number one priority and this structure in its present condition does not meet the council’s standards.

“We understand the structure’s ‘life expectancy’ was between ten and 15 years – so sadly, it is ‘life expired’. It has been closely monitored over the years with regular inspections and remedial repair works and maintenance undertaken. We will now be looking at further options, including the replacement of all the timber elements with hard wood and reinstating the structure at a later date.”

Bristol residents are concerned that the empty space will leave a gap allowing for a new planning application from Tesco for a Metro store.