Skip to main content

Balfour Beatty demolishes Scottish M8 bridge to create junction

Balfour Beatty has demolished 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 demolition of Cowhill Bridge is a major milestone for Ecosse Regeneration in the construction of Junction 4a. Using ten excavators equipped with hydraulic breakers and munching attachments, the four span composite construction bridge was successfully removed during a recent 10-hour night time closure of the M8.
July 11, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
1146 Balfour Beatty has demolished 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 demolition of Cowhill Bridge is a major milestone for Ecosse Regeneration in the construction of Junction 4a. Using ten excavators equipped with hydraulic breakers and munching attachments, the four span composite construction bridge was successfully removed during a recent 10-hour night time closure of the M8. Materials removed during the demolition are being recycled, including the concrete which will be crushed and reused in the construction of the roads.

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, providing around 4,000 new jobs. Funded by 6192 The Royal Bank of Scotland, this will be the first entirely privately funded motorway junction in Scotland.

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

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.
  • 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.
  • Balfour Beatty begins construction of €23.05mn Merseyside motorway link
    January 31, 2014
    Balfour Beatty this week began construction on a €23.05 million (£19 million) scheme to bypass two congested villages and link communities in Sefton along the west coast of Merseyside in Northwest England directly to the M57 and M58 motorways. The road will be 4.5km long and connect the A565 Southport Road to the motorway junction at Switch Island, avoiding the villages of Thornton and Netherton. The newly designated A5758 Broom’s Cross Road will relieve long-standing traffic issues in the area and provid
  • Demolition starts for Gerald Desmond Bridge
    July 14, 2022
    The 125m-long span will be dismantled, cut and lowered onto a barge in the waters around the Port of Long Beach in the US state of California.