VIDEO: Balfour starts M3 bridge upgrade in UK following demolition

Balfour Beatty has started bridge work over the M3 motorway as part of a €205 million upgrade on highway connecting London to south coast ports. Balfour recently demolished the Woodlands Lane Bridge between junctions 2 and 3 near Windlesham on the M3 which runs from the capital to Southampton and Portsmouth. A new bridge is being constructed Balfour Beatty is working for the agency Highways England to reduce congestion this section of the M3 that handles more than 130,000 vehicle journeys every day.
November 23, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
1146 Balfour Beatty has started bridge work over the M3 motorway as part of a €205 million upgrade on highway connecting London to south coast ports.

Balfour recently demolished the Woodlands Lane Bridge between junctions 2 and 3 near Windlesham on the M3 which runs from the capital to Southampton and Portsmouth. A new bridge is being constructed

Balfour Beatty is working for the agency 8100 Highways England to reduce congestion this section of the M3 that handles more than 130,000 vehicle journeys every day. Once is it converted into a smart motorway and open in summer 2017, there will be an extra lane in both directions, increasing capacity by a third. Technology will be introduced to vary speed limits.

More than 250 engineers worked on the controlled demolition of Woodlands Lane Bridge which used a variety of methods to break up the structure and protect the carriageway beneath. This included installation of plywood protection, 150mm of timber mats and a further 600mm of crushed concrete.

Unfolding geotextile curtains contained dust and rubble as the bridge collapsed onto the protected area of the road below.

“The work went according to plan in spite of the poor weather conditions, safely, on time and the carriageway was reopened ahead of schedule,” said Stephen Tarr, managing director for major projects with Balfour Beatty.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Highways England on track with smart motorway upgrade near Cheshire
    September 28, 2018
    A 20tonne gantry – the biggest single structure under a major motorway upgrade in England - has been hoisted into place in Cheshire county.
    Read More
  • Uretek delivers voided soils treatment for UK’s M3 Smart Motorway
    February 8, 2018
    Ground engineering specialist Uretek has been treating voided soils as part of maintenance following completion of the UK’s M3 Smart Motorway project. Work is between junctions 2 and 4a where Uretek has provided a non-disruptive alternative to conventional underpinning to solve foundation subsidence problems. The focus for Uretek is an old 900mm corrugated pipe, 73m long. The old pipe has had a new 700mm pipe inserted inside. However, the old pipe is rusting and rapidly deteriorating.
    Read More
  • Upgrade work starts on junction of London’s orbital motorway M25
    February 20, 2015
    Work has started on a €136 million road improvement project on the UK’s London ring road, the M25 motorway. Crews from Balfour Beatty and Skanska have moved onto the interchange between the A13 national road and the M25 at junction 30 near Thurrock in the county Essex. The A13 on approach to the junction will be widened to four lanes in each direction and the junction itself will have dedicated link roads between the M25 and the A13. “Traffic at the junction is expected to grow by up to a quarter b
    Read More
  • UV lining is highway drainage first for UK motorway upgrade
    December 19, 2017
    Drainage specialist Lanes Group is implementing the first project to extensively line highway drainage pipes as part of a Smart Motorway initiative in the UK. Lanes has been commissioned by the Carillion Kier Joint Venture working for Highways England to install ultra-violet – UV - liners during the M6 Junction 16-19 Smart Motorway scheme between Crewe and Knutsford, in county Cheshire. Lanes said that it is the first time that roadside drainage pipes will have been extensively lined, instead of being
    Read More

Highlighted Content