Army engineers built it in November 2009 after flooding put the town's bridges out of use, and removed it in February 2011.

[6] Street furniture including lighting was added, and the bridge opened to the public just after 08:00 (GMT) on 7 December 2009.

[7] They worked 24 hours a day in adverse weather conditions including driving rain much of the week and temperatures as low as -8C.

[5] The bridge was named in honour of PC Bill Barker[1] who drowned in the River Derwent in Workington in the early morning of 20 November 2009.

In August 1997, he received a chief constable’s commendation for his courage and tenacity during a pursuit with a Land Rover Discovery in the Keswick area; it rammed his car twice.

[13] The inquest into Barker's death opened on 13 October 2010 at Cleator Moor civic hall.