Skip to main content

Cofferdams completed for Sunderland city’s New Wear River Crossing

In the UK, foundation work for Sunderland city’s new bridge is about to start as the huge cofferdam in the middle of the River Wear nears completion. Water has been drained out of the cofferdam, a large steel watertight structure within the river, to allow the building of pylons for the bridge deck. It is the first bridge to be built over the Wear in Sunderland for more than 40 years and is part of the wider strategic transport plan to link the Port of Sunderland and city centre with the A19 road.
May 25, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Cofferdam construction to allow work on main pylon foundations
In the UK, foundation work for Sunderland city’s new bridge is about to start as the huge cofferdam in the middle of the River Wear nears completion.

Water has been drained out of the cofferdam, a large steel watertight structure within the river, to allow the building of pylons for the bridge deck.

It is the first bridge to be built over the Wear in Sunderland for more than 40 years and is part of the wider strategic transport plan to link the Port of Sunderland and city centre with the A19 road.

Before the end of the year, a 105m A-frame pylon will be floated from Belgium on a giant barge before being slowly hoisted into position on the river. It will take several hours to raise the pylon and secure it.

Stephen McCaffrey, project director for FVB joint venture, created by 1622 Farrans Construction and Victor Buyck Steel Construction, said the positioning of the pylon will be “a very complex project” and “not straightforward”.

Farrans Construction is a building and civil engineering contractor across the UK and Ireland. Victor Buyck is based in Belgium and specialises in major structural steelwork, especially steel bridges. The FVB joint venture is supported by their design team led by Buro Happold Engineering and Roughan & O'Donovan.

Sunderland City Council is holding a two-phase consultation to find a name for the new bridge.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Doka formwork rises above the Orinoco River in Venezuela
    July 8, 2016
    Taking a road and rail link across one of the biggest rivers in South America, together with its swamps and flood-plain, called for a new crossing of truly superlative dimensions. Two 135.5m pylons for the third bridge across the Orinoco River, at Caicara del Orinoco, in Venezuela took shape with a formwork solution and automatic climbing technology from Doka. The bridge has an overall length of just over 11km and the main bridge is nearly 2.3km long with the roadway 55m above the river. The two ident
  • Geosynthetic drainage technology developments
    June 13, 2012
    An innovative solution to providing vital, low-impact surface water control for one of Britain’s largest local authority road schemes is said to have been recently achieved using Hydro International’s (HI) Hydro Vortex Drop Shaft  ow control technology. The new 7km bypass built by Costain at Church Village, near Pontypridd, South Wales, required careful planning to minimise its effect on the countryside and the local environment. Rhondda Cynon Taff Council needed to bypass Church Village to reduce traf c
  • AtkinsRéalis wins Île d’Orléans Bridge work
    May 2, 2024
    VIDEO: The new US$1.96 billion replacement Île d’Orléans Bridge near Quebec city, Canada, will feature two wider lanes of traffic, shoulders, multi-use lanes for pedestrians and cyclists as well as redevelopment of a major interchange and creation of green spaces.
  • Solving congestion in Brisbane
    August 2, 2012
    Rapid growth in a major Australian city in recent years has created new problems for the infrastructure and especially transport Expansion in the city of Brisbane, the Queensland state capital and the third largest city in the country, is set to continue and some 1,500 people arrive/week from within Australia and from other parts of the world. At this rate by 2026 the city's population should increase by 1.4 million: at present it is 1.8 million. To cope, the Queensland government and city council have ini