Skip to main content

VIDEO – demolition of UK’s M1 motorway overpass

April 17, 2015
Specialist contractor Armac recently demolished a bridge over the UK’s busy M1 motorway. The work was carried out within a tight timeframe as this important route could only be closed for a short period at night over a weekend when traffic would be at its lightest so as to minimise disruption.

Equipment was used initially to prepare the site, so as to reduce the risk to the surrounding area. Blast curtains were set in place so as to minimise the spread of debris, before the charges were activated. With the bridge then demolished by the blast, a fleet of excavators with demolition attachments was then brought in to cut up the wreckage and reduce the rubble to a manageable size, allowing it to be transported away.

Video footage has finally emerged of Armac’s spectacular bridge implosion over the M1 motorway which took place a few weeks back.

This silent movie from the 2309 Highways Agency uses time-lapse to capture the preparation and the blast before the work really starts with around with something like 10 excavators cutting up and processing the fallen bridge deck.

The “Bridge Busters” then deploy a veritable fleet of equipment to clear the site in readiness for the reopening of Junction 19.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Airport runway rebuild at Bologna
    May 15, 2019
    Rebuilding a runway requires special attention to detail to maximise efficiency and safety Airport runways face special challenges with regard to the loads they carry on a daily basis, particularly when aircraft are landing. A modern jet aircraft will typically land at speeds of around 240-260km/h, with a laden 747 weighing as much as 265tonnes at the end of a long flight. The stresses these large aircraft place on runway surfaces are enormous and not just with the massive impact forces exerted during
  • Smart UK motorway scheme
    February 19, 2014
    The first smart motorway scheme in the UK’s south-west has been officially launched, covering 11km of motorway around the Almondsbury interchange and including junctions 19-20 on the M4 and junctions 15-17 on the M5. It is designed to help reduce congestion and improve safety and journey times by introducing variable speed limits and opening the hard shoulder during busy traffic periods. The improvements to the M4 and M5 use a range of technologies and operational systems to reduce congestion and smooth t
  • Simple road safety measures save lives
    February 15, 2012
    Elementary road safety measures quickly pay back the costs of investment and, more importantly, help save lives as Patrick Smith reports. More than 300 people in the UK are alive today or have avoided the prospect of a lifetime of special care because just 15 roads have had simple improvements put in place.
  • Bertha ends her Alaskan Way voyage in Seattle
    December 21, 2017
    Seattle's State Route 99 viaduct is coming down. David Arminas was on site. Bertha, the world’s largest diameter earth pressure balance tunnel boring machine, with a cutterhead diameter of 17.5m, is no more. Her 2.7km journey underneath the waterfront area of Seattle finished on April 4 and the power went off for the last time on an extraordinary TBM that had finally completed an extraordinary job. “A small sidewalk job would have had more impact on city traffic than we have had,” says Brian Russell a v