Bridging the gap

May Gurney has successfully completed work to repair a damaged bridge, which crosses the A12 at Bucklesham near Ipswich in Suffolk. The bridge suffered major structural damage when a lorry struck it earlier this year.

In order to minimise disruption to the public, removal of the damaged bridge and installation of its replacement were programmed to coincide with resurfacing works that took place overnight on the A12 in July.

Access scaffolding was installed on 26 June, giving the team 3½ weeks to complete all prep work ready for the removal of the beam on 25 July. The work involved removing a 2.5m wide strip of the surfacing down to the existing deck. The deck and cheek walls then had to be saw cut and cored in strategic places to allow the beam, once freed, to move north about half a metre to allow it to be lifted out. This work was complete three days ahead of program.

On the night of 25 July, the damaged beam was cut and lifted out in two pieces. The new beam was installed without any problems on the night of 31 July, and the A12 carriageway was opened on time.

Between 1-10 August, the bridge was re-concreted to tie back into the existing structure, and resurfaced - and the over bridge reopened to one lane of traffic.

All traffic management on the A12 was removed on the 23 August, and works completed by 24 August ready for the Bank Holiday weekend.

Sarah Chapman, Contracts Manager, said: "This project was another great success for the Suffolk Bridges team. The design and construction of these works were delivered very quickly and efficiently within the existing framework."