Bridges news roundup

I've not rounded up any bridges news for a while, so here are a handful of things that caught my eye recently ...

Expert slams Garden Bridge business case
Apparently, the Garden Bridge project is a fiasco dressed up in a farrago, disguised as a farce.

The case for exempting projects from open procurement
Should pet projects like the Garden Bridge be permitted an exemption to normal competitive procurement, especially when it leads to things like the absurd procurement process by which Heatherwick Studio beat off two other designers to proceed with what had always been their own design proposal?

A Folly for London
Here's a lovely idea, a free, open, presumably not-pre-decided-at-all competition to come up with an idiotic idea whereby central London can be permanently ruined. Satirical, of course.

Boris agrees to underwrite Garden Bridge’s maintenance costs
Having previously promised that taxpayers will never have to cover the running costs of the Garden Bridge, London's mayor has had a change of heart. It's hard to see now why anyone else would cover those costs, when they know the London taxpayer is underwriting it all.

Design of new pedestrian bridge linking East Perth to Burswood revealed
Interesting new design in Perth, Australia. And look, it's got trees on it!

This Robot Can 3-D Print A Steel Bridge In Mid-Air
I expect that 3d printing of steel will never be an economic alternative to more conventional construction, but this is a genuinely exciting project, and I'd love to see more being made of robotics to help build complex structures.