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

  • THIS is a Paving Project– The I-15 CORE
    December 20, 2012
    Provo, Utah – The scope of the I-15 Corridor Expansion Project (I-15 CORE) in the state of Utah is nearly unprecedented because of the size of the project and the short completion deadline. Twenty-four miles (38.6 km) of removal and replacement of Interstate 15 between Lehi and Spanish Fork, widening the number of traveling lanes by two, for up to six lanes in each direction in 35 months. The new 364 lane miles (586 km) of concrete roadway will be slipformed 12 or 12.5 inches (305 or 318 mm) thick for a tot
  • Tackling the UK's traffic congestion
    February 28, 2012
    The biggest problem on UK roads is congestion, and there is no shortage of ideas as to how it should be tackled. Patrick Smith reports. Congestion (and how to relieve it), along with safety, are among the top priorities facing those responsible for looking after the UK's roads. Road pricing, car-share lanes, greener vehicle initiatives and alternative methods of transport such as buses, trams and rail are all part of the approach, but prior to the current economic climate the nation's love affair with the c
  • Bang: big bridge blocking boulder broken by blasting
    April 24, 2013
    Following a recent earthquake in China, the roads and highways had to be cleared quickly to allow emergency deliveries, as well as general transport. One key bridge was blocked by a massive boulder that had been dislodged by the quake. As the boulder was too large to move using the excavators or bulldozers that the bridge could support, a decision was made to use blasting instead to clear the path. A drilling rig was brought into place and this machine bored a blasthole into the errant boulder, with the hol
  • UK’s Stonehenge Bypass approved by Government
    July 17, 2023
    The UK’s Stonehenge Bypass project has been approved by the Government.