Skip to main content

Balfour Beatty demolishes M8 bridge to create junction

A huge array of construction machinery from leading international equipment manufacturers was deployed by Balfour Beatty recently to demolish a farm access bridge over the M8 motorway between junctions 4 and 5 to enable the completion of slip roads for the new Heartlands junction in West Lothian, Scotland. The Cowhill Bridge demolition was a major milestone for Ecosse Regeneration in the construction of Junction 4a. Ten excavators equipped with hydraulic breakers and munching attachments were used to remove
August 8, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A huge array of construction machinery from leading international equipment manufacturers was deployed by 1146 Balfour Beatty recently to demolish a farm access bridge over the M8 motorway between junctions 4 and 5 to enable the completion of slip roads for the new Heartlands junction in West Lothian, Scotland.

The Cowhill Bridge demolition was a major milestone for Ecosse Regeneration in the construction of Junction 4a. Ten excavators equipped with hydraulic breakers and munching attachments were used to remove the four-span composite construction bridge during a 10-hour night time closure of the M8. Materials removed during the demolition are being recycled.

A recently completed 50m long, single span bridge provides a new access to the farm and forms part of the new grade separated junction that will provide the main access route to Heartlands, a US$968.15 million (£650mn) business, retail, residential and leisure destination.

M8 Junction 4a is set to open in September 2013.

Click here to watch the Balfour Beatty demolition team in action.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK motorway bridge work
    June 10, 2025
    A new bridge now spans the UK’s busy M6 motorway.
  • Velocity-Balfour Beatty tackling potholes
    May 13, 2014
    It is the bugbear of motorists worldwide, and costs UK councils alone an estimated US$82.12 million (£50 million) in compensation each year. Now Balfour Beatty is partnering with specialist supplier Velocity and North Somerset Council in south-west England to tackle potholes using innovative technology which vastly reduces disruption to road users. The method, called ‘Spray Injection’ patching, is allowing Balfour Beatty to repair nearly 700 potholes a week on its highways maintenance contract repairing
  • VIDEO: Bridge demolition on key A90 route in Scotland
    November 4, 2015
    Demolition work has been carried out on a bridge crossing the busy A90 route in Scotland, just to the north of the capital, Edinburgh. The bridge carried the B900 over the A90 but had to be removed as its narrow design prevented the route from being upgraded to full motorway status. The first stage of the demolition work was carried out on October 24th and 25th, with the second stage on October 31st and November 1st and final remedial work to be carried out on November 14th and 15th.
  • HA dismantles footbridge over M5 in England
    January 3, 2013
    Contractors worked solidly throughout the night during one Saturday and early Sunday morning in November (2012) to dismantle the Pegwell Brake footbridge over the M5 near Bristol, south west England. The concrete footbridge, located between junctions 16 and 17, needed to be demolished to make way for a new steel pedestrian bridge suitable for high-sided vehicles to pass under when the managed motorway is fully operational and the hard shoulder is used as a running lane. The dismantling and removal of the