Historic Guthrie Bridge at Fort Rinella Fully Restored and Reopened to Working Order

Today, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna together with the Eden Leisure Foundation inaugurated the full restoration of the Guthrie Bridge at Fort Rinella to working order. This remarkable achievement was made possible through funds generously provided by the Eden Leisure Foundation over a three-year period (2021–2024) and carried out under the direction of Engineer Sergio Grech.

The Guthrie Bridge is a type of mechanical bridge that retracts in and out from a fort isolating it as part of its defence. It was designed by Charles Guthrie in 1869 and adopted for use in British forts at home and abroad the following year. It remained in use until the turn of the century when it was declared unsuitable for the passage of motor vehicles and scrapped.

The restored bridge at Fort Rinella now stands as the only fully working example of its kind in the world, a fact that has attracted significant international interest. The project undertaken by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna involved combining original components with newly manufactured parts, meticulously recreated after extensive historical and technical research both locally and abroad. The original lifting arms, trucks, and wall-mounted rails were salvaged years ago from Fort Rinella’s sister fort—Fort Cambridge in Sliema— when it was abandoned, thus saving them from certain destruction.