Harsco goes Forth

Harsco Infrastructure (HI) is providing bespoke scaffolding for a major refurbishment project being carried out on the famous Forth Road Bridge in Scotland. The £710,000 contract is seeing HI scaffolding used to allow work to be carried out to replace the large bearings which support each end of the structure, with no disruption to traffic using the bridge.
June 25, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
1483 Harsco Infrastructure (HI) is providing bespoke scaffolding for a major refurbishment project being carried out on the famous Forth Road Bridge in Scotland.

The £710,000 contract is seeing HI scaffolding used to allow work to be carried out to replace the large bearings which support each end of the structure, with no disruption to traffic using the bridge.

HI was said to have been chosen by 1146 Balfour Beatty on the basis of its competitive tendering, and the fact that the two companies have worked together on a large number of previous successful projects.

“Despite its size we wanted to ensure we did not over-complicate the project,” said Harsco sales director Tony Knight. “Although we frequently design and produce new products to satisfy individual project requirements, this contract demonstrates our ability to design and construct a bespoke solution for a complex project, primarily using standard products from our range.”

The Forth Road Bridge spans the Firth of Forth and connects Edinburgh with Fife. While its centre section is suspended from cables, the approach sections which link this to either side of the Firth rest on large bearings that sit on top of concrete piers. These bearings allow the approach decks to move in response to traffic loading and temperature changes, and it is these that are being replaced.

“This involves the workforce having access to some of the more remote areas of the bridge structure and so our aim was to create a solution which would provide this, whilst still ensuring complete safety,” added Knight.

The Bridge refurbishment work is expected to be completed this summer.
Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Mini-bridge aids Forth repairs
    July 17, 2012
    An engineering "first" means that rehabilitation work on a vital Scottish bridge built over 40 years ago can be carried out smoothly A new report to the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) in Scotland recommends appointing Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering of Edinburgh as 'preferred bidder' to carry out the scheduled replacement of the bridge's main expansion joints in 2009. However, the report to the bridge authority says the tender price of £13.7 million (US$21.3 million) is some £5 million ($7.8 mill
    Read More
  • Upgrade for Scottish road
    February 17, 2012
    Work is progressing on a £320 million (e385 million) project to upgrade a busy 18km stretch of the main A80 Glasgow-Stirling road in Scotland to motorway standard. The project, between the villages of Stepps and Haggs, is part of a massive infrastructure investment in Scotland's transport network, and construction work includes almost 8km of new dual-lane motorway and hard shoulders between
    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
  • Modern formwork systems - fast, flexible, safe
    February 21, 2012
    Speed of erection, safety, cost-efficiency and flexibility are among the attributes of modern formwork systems. Modern formwork and scaffolding systems are attractive in particular for their speed of erection, safety, cost-efficiency and flexibility.
    Read More

Highlighted Content