Cleveland Bridge is all decked out on the England’s A14 scheme

As part of Highways England’s A14 upgrade project from Cambridge to Huntington, Cleveland Bridge installed two 1,050tonne pre-assembled bridge decks in just 11 hours. Months of detailed planning and client liaison ensured the 47.5m-long bridge decks, each containing 330tonnes of steel and 720tonnes of concrete, were successfully travelled to the site and lowered onto the abutments. On-site civil engineering works were undertaken by the A14 Integrated Delivery Team, a joint venture between Costain,
June 4, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Abutment bound: each of the two 47.5m long bridge decks contained 330tonnes of steel and 720tonnes of concrete
As part of 8100 Highways England’s A14 upgrade project from Cambridge to Huntington, Cleveland Bridge installed two 1,050tonne pre-assembled bridge decks in just 11 hours.


Months of detailed planning and client liaison ensured the 47.5m-long bridge decks, each containing 330tonnes of steel and 720tonnes of concrete, were successfully travelled to the site and lowered onto the abutments.

On-site civil engineering works were undertaken by the A14 Integrated Delivery Team,

a joint venture between 2319 Costain, 2296 Skanska, 1146 Balfour Beatty, 3005 Atkins and 2874 CH2M. Pouring of the concrete abutments took place simultaneously to the production of the decks’ 12 girders at a Cleveland Bridge factory.

The original scheme called for erecting the bridge decks piecemeal using a crane. This would have involved closing the A14 for a number of weeks. Instead, the decks were constructed near the new bridge site and, using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs), travelled a short distance down the closed A14 to the abutments. This meant much less disruption to traffic. It also reduced project delays - SPMTs can better operate in high winds in comparison to cranes.

The preferred option, though, required the development of a large preparation area – an adjacent field - to accommodate the welded girders. There was also significant elevation difference between the assembly area and the A14 carriageway. A large amount of fill and regrading works were required as the SPMTs were limited to a gradient of 4%.

Meanwhile, instead of delivering the bridges as part-length paired-girders and then welded on-site, they were delivered as full-length single-girders – saving about three weeks. When on site, the single girders were braced together and handed over to the A14 Integrated Delivery Team before reinforced concrete was added.


The A14 was closed to traffic at 9pm on a Friday to allow the sections of the existing A14 carriageway to be infilled and regraded to accommodate the SPMTs. The decks were then lifted from a series of trestles onto the SPMTs which eased them along to the abutments for lowering into position.

The bridges were installed during an 11-hour period and the road reopened by noon on Sunday – 18 hours ahead of schedule.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bridge project uses high performing formwork
    February 20, 2012
    Doka designed and supplied a high-performing formwork technology solution for a challenging bridge project south of the German town of Halle. The 8,614m long single-cell box girder superstructure of the Saale-Elster Viaduct, with a typical cross section width of 13.9m, is borne on 220 piers, and has a constructional depth of 4m. It is mainly being erected on launching girders to minimise the impact on flora and fauna.
    Read More
  • Bridges in Sunderland and Poland are being slid into place
    February 6, 2017
    Sunderland sees a bridge slide into place and two bridges inch their way across a Polish highway 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 likely to take place next year. The project to build the New Wear Crossing is now halfway through with the first half of the steel deck b
    Read More
  • A new bridge now crosses a motorway in the UK
    November 5, 2012
    A new 240tonne bridge has now been installed over the M54 as part of a major overnight engineering operation. The single-span bridge, which stretches 45m over the motorway, is part of wider plans to develop a site in South Staffordshire. To allow engineers to winch the giant structure in safely, both carriageways between junctions 2 and 3 were closed on Saturday, November 3rd. Bridge sections were delivered to a near compound early in the summer where it was pieced together. Just after 11.30pm on Saturday,
    Read More
  • Sunderland’s New Wear Crossing takes shape
    February 16, 2017
    The New Wear Crossing will be the first bridge to be built over the River Wear in Sunderland, UK, for more than 40 years Raising the bridge’s 100m-tall pylon promised to be a stunning visual sight, but also a tricky operation dictated by extremely variable local weather. World Highways went to press just before the operation, but not before the pylon had arrived by barge on January 7. It had completed a two-day crossing of the often unpredictable North Sea from the Belgian port of Ghent where it was f
    Read More

Highlighted Content