Skip to main content

Bridge replacement assembled overnight

Highways service provider Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald has completed a major milestone in a project to replace a bridge for use by the local community over the M5 motorway near the city of Bristol, south-west England.
February 21, 2012 Read time: 1 min
The new bridge is lifted into position over the M5 Motorway
Highways service provider 1530 Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald has completed a major milestone in a project to replace a bridge for use by the local community over the M5 motorway near the city of Bristol, south-west England.
The operation was carried out overnight to minimise disruption to the travelling public.
Working on behalf of the 1441 UK Highways Agency, Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald carried out the £1.6 million (€e1.9 million) project to replace the bridge at Lawrence Weston after the previous concrete structure had become weakened from vehicle strikes over many years.
The replacement structure is a low maintenance, single span steel bridge suitable for pedestrians and cyclists, forming a crucial link in a south-west cycle route and providing access for non-motorised users from the city to reach the countryside.
Weighing 92 tonnes and with a span of 66m, the new structure was manufactured in three sections before being transported to site where it was assembled and lifted into place during the overnight closure of the motorway.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Norway's bridge meets tough environmental targets
    February 27, 2012
    One of the world's longest bridges is being built in Norway – for traffic volumes of just 2,000 cars/day reports Adrian Greeman. The stunning landscape of the long sea fjords in Norway is one of its glories, attracting thousands of tourists every summer. But the high mountains and deep sea inlets are also one of the great obstacles to transport and development.
  • High speed bridge demolition minimises disruption
    February 16, 2012
    A high speed bridge demolition project has been carried out successfully in Germany. Speed was of the essence as the bridge spanned an important road link and had to be removed in a tight time frame, minimising disruption to traffic.
  • Mott reasons to be cheerful PPP
    May 1, 2012
    Mott MacDonald has been appointed lenders’ technical advisor for a US$133.7million highway project in Gent, Belgium. The project is being funded through a public private partnership (PPP) by Via R4 Gent¹, a special purpose vehicle established to carry out the design, construction, financing and maintenance of the highway.
  • Innovative new drainage solutions will help keep roads free from water
    October 2, 2014
    An array of new technologies will help optimise road drainage and minimise flooding risks - Mike Woof reports In the UK the specialist contractor Lanes Group has carried out extensive inspection work of the drainage systems for the M6 toll route around the city of Birmingham. A powerful zoom camera has been used to carry out the inspection work for Midland Expressway, which operates and maintains the 43km-long motorway, running from Coleshill to Cannock.