Yesterday afternoon (Sunday), the Isle of Wight council issued a message on social media that the Cowes floating bridge would be suspended again this morning. Just as thousands of Isle of Wight festival goers are leaving the Island.
The bridge has been taken out of service several times over the past few days after experiencing problems at low tide and becoming grounded.
The message shared read:
Floating bridge will not run in the morning (Monday), but there will be a passenger launch in operation from 5.00am as a precaution due to expected weather conditions.
Allan Marsh, who lives directly next to the Bridge in East Cowes, says he believes the problem has been caused by the build-up of silt on the slipways (as shown in his photo of the digger removing the debris).
Tense time
During the arrival of Isle of Wight Festival goers at the end of last week, the passenger launch was operating between East Cowes and the RedJet terminal in Cowes rather than directly across the Medina River.
It’s not been made clear whether that will continue to be the case today.
With the thousands of festival goers leaving the Island, coupled with year 11 students taking their exams this morning, it’s expected that tensions may be high.
Update
Just before 8am the floating bridge appeared to be operating as normal. Best check the tide times before travelling though.
Image: © With kind permission of Allan Marsh
