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

  • IAM suggests confusion over UK’s SMART motorways
    April 13, 2015
    The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has expressed concern that widespread confusion exists amongst UK drivers on how best to use SMART motorways. These were officially introduced around this time in 2014 to replace Managed Motorways as the solution to the UK’s congested major routes. However concerns have been raised over the safety of the SMART motorways. England’s first all-lane running motorway, without a hard shoulder, was the 2.5km stretch of the M25 between junctions 23 and 25. Complete schemes
    Read More
  • Foiled by foliage from Biotecture
    June 27, 2022
    Richard Sabin, managing director of Biotecture*, details how living walls provide an innovative solution for reducing air pollution and improve air quality along congested urban highways.
    Read More
  • The Mersey Gateway bridge project continues on schedule
    October 18, 2016
    Work continues on the 2.3km Mersey Gateway signature bridge project close to Liverpool in the UK. David Arminas reports on some of the construction highlights. Under construction is a cable-stayed structure with three towers that will span the Mersey River’s expansive mud flats between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes near Liverpool. Including the approach viaducts on each side, it will be 2.3km long with a river span of 1km. The main bridge deck will be reinforced concrete. The 80m-high central tower will b
    Read More
  • Scotland’s new Queensferry Crossing over the Forth Estuary
    December 23, 2015
    The new Queensferry Crossing under construction in Scotland will be the third landmark bridge spanning the Forth Estuary - Mike Woof writes When the new Queensferry Crossing over the Forth Estuary opens at the end of 2016, it will be the third landmark bridge to be built spanning this short stretch of water. Lying alongside the existing road bridge and the historic rail bridge, this new structure will be as groundbreaking as the two earlier crossings were at the time of their construction.
    Read More

Highlighted Content