Wednesday 11 June 2014

Ferrymead Bridge construction reaches major milestone

The construction of the replacement Ferrymead Bridge reaches a major milestone in early June 2014 with the laying of the road deck support beams.

Chair of the Environmental Committee Councillor Phil Clearwater says, "This is a significant milestone for this project with the new bridge really taking shape. Once the beams are in place it will give us an idea of what the future bridge will look like. It is also a great example of the Council and our contractors working together to minimise the impact on the local community's day-to-day commute.

"We are conscious of this work impacting upon people's daily journeys times with this project and that's why we've planned this work to take place outside of peak travel times. There will be minimal traffic disruption while the road beams are manoeuvred into place, however, this traffic disruption should take no more than five minutes as each beam is put into place on site."

These main bridge beams, 26 in total, are the largest components of the new replacement bridge and will support the new road deck across the bridge as well as housing critical services such as communication cables, power cables, sewer and water supplies.

"The support beams weigh 50 tonnes each and measure 26.5 metres long, so their positioning is a careful and measured exercise," says Councillor Clearwater.

This work will be carried out over a two week period and is expected to be finished by 23 June 2014.

Replacement Ferrymead Bridge Timeline:
* The demolition of the original bridge was completed in May 2013.
* Construction of the bridge foundation piles was completed in May 2014.
* Laying of the 26 road deck support beams takes place in June 2014.
* Final construction of the road decks and relocation of the services onto the new bridge takes place in September 2014.
* September 2014 to April 2015 will see the construction of the road approaches and relocation of the services through these new approaches.
* The approximate completion date is early May 2015.

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