A bridge which unrolls like a children's party blower has been a labour of love for a Sussex welding firm.

Littlehampton Welding boss Bill Tustin says he will be lucky to break even after his firm built the innovative structure for a canal in Paddington, London.

But some jobs are just too exciting to turn down, he says.

Built from a design by Thomas Heatherwick, the curling Roll-Up Bridge unfurls from an octagonal shape on one side of the canal into a safe walkway to the other bank.

It is powered by hydraulic pumps which push up the bridge's handrails and straighten out the whole structure.

Littlehampton Welding, on the town's Riverside Industrial Estate, helped complete the metalwork and the bridge is currently being installed.

Mr Tustin said the project was not the most profitable but he loved the challenge of making something so diverse.

He said: "They call it social engineering. Normally it's a park or a children's playground but Paddington Basin Development (PBD) wanted something special.

"A project like this is done for the love of the job rather than love of money. We have not got a figure for the final cost yet but I'll be happy to break even."

Littlehampton Welding started in 1983 and specialises in architectural and structural metalwork.

The company has completed dozens of high-profile contracts at the London Eye, the Tate Gallery in London, Wimbledon and the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Mr Heatherwick also designed the B Of Bang sculpture being built outside the City of Manchester Stadium.

Its name was inspired by Linford Christie, who is famously said to have started his gold medal-winning Olympic 100 metres race "on the B of the bang".

Mr Tustin frequently talked to Mr Heatherwick, from Camden, north London, throughout the bridge's construction.

Mr Tustin said: "The designer is brilliant and a lovely man. He has no airs and graces and was just as happy talking to a fellow making a part as he was the managing director of the PBD."

Wednesday September 01, 2004