Skip to main content

Sunderland’s sliding bridge slips across the Wear

Slowly but surely, a 2,500 tonne section of a new bridge deck was eased out from the banks of the River Wear near Sunderland in northern England. It now straddles the water, pointing towards the opposite bank which it will eventually reach after another sliding operation next year likely. The project to build the New Wear Crossing is now half way through with the first half of the steel deck bridge poised mid-river. Completion of the bridge is expected in the spring of 2018. This month, hydraulic jack
October 26, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Sunderland’s new bridge slides into existence
Slowly but surely, a 2,500 tonne section of a new bridge deck was eased out from the banks of the River Wear near Sunderland in northern England. It now straddles the water, pointing towards the opposite bank which it will eventually reach after another sliding operation next year likely.

The project to build the New Wear Crossing is now half way through with the first half of the steel deck bridge poised mid-river. Completion of the bridge is expected in the spring of 2018.

This month, hydraulic jacks slowly pulled the first deck section – a 230m long steel structure – around 120m out across the water during a seven-hour operation. Time-lapse photography shows construction of the deck and %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal its eventual launch Visit www.sunderland.gov.uk website false http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11787 false false%>.

The deck is being held in place above the water on a series of temporary supports constructed within the riverbed. This enables assembly of the second section of bridge deck directly behind the first on the south side of the river.

Once the 105m high A-frame pylon, which is the centrepiece of the bridge, arrives on site early in 2017 and is raised into position, the extended bridge deck will then be pulled into position across the width of the river.

The permanent deck is 186m long and the temporary ‘nose’ - used to allow the deck to land on the temporary supports - is 37m long. The temporary ‘tail’ that connects the jacking system to the deck is 7m long.

Of the section’s 2,500 tonnes, around 1,350 tonnes consists of 212 precast concrete units that will form the road bed.

A further 256 concrete units, weighing 1,600 tonnes, will be added to the bridge deck before the next launch across the River Wear. The remaining 172 concrete panels will then be installed after the bridge deck is in its final position.

An artist’s impression of the full construction process is available %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal Sunderland City&#8217;s website Visit YouTube page false http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6-jBoa3f74 false false%>.

The project is on schedule, said Stephen McCaffrey, project director of the FVB joint venture, formed by Farrans Construction and Belgium-based Victor Buyck Steel Construction which is delivering the project on behalf of Sunderland City Council.

FVB JV will be supported by their design team led by Buro Happold Engineering as well as Roughan & O'Donovan.

Related Content

  • Bridge building in miniature by Cimolai
    April 19, 2013
    Bespoke equipment supplier Cimolai Technology is exhibiting a model of the equipment it supplied for a Bulgarian bridge project. Construction of the bridge entailed lifting and positioning pre-cast sections weighing up to 260tonnes. Cimolai designed, built and supplied a bespoke cantilever lifting system to sit atop the centre pillar and simultaneously hoist the blocks from barges 42m below on the river Danube. The company said its European contracting customers are increasingly winning orders further afiel
  • ESTP offers equipment manufacturers easy access to Russia
    November 26, 2014
    ESTP was at bauma 2014 in Shanghai, China to promote its new specialised information system. The United Construction Tender Platform (ESTP.RU) is a website that has the support of the state and leading Russian banks and construction companies.
  • ESTP offers equipment manufacturers easy access to Russia
    January 6, 2017
    ESTP was at bauma 2014 in Shanghai, China to promote its new specialised information system. The United Construction Tender Platform (ESTP.RU) is a website that has the support of the state and leading Russian banks and construction companies.
  • PPRS event: Road users’ concerns at the heart of the programme
    December 19, 2014
    Europeans are in two minds about whether their road transport has improved in the past five years, according to the latest European Commission’ Eurobarometer survey and report. According to 38% of respondents, road transport quality had gone up, but 40% said it had dropped, while 18% said there had been no change. Whatever the opinion on quality, 60% of respondents to the report’s survey considered congestion to be the most serious issue facing Europe’s roads. The survey highlighted the dominance o