River Teme
On Christmas Eve 2015 the River Teme Bridge near Ludlow was lifted from the position it had stood in since 1852 by one of the largest cranes in the country, weighing an incredible 1,200 tonnes. SRK had been involved in the project from an early stage with Balfour Beatty and had worked in conjunction with a number of different contractors that were key to the removal and the installation of the new bridge at different stages of the contract.
To enable the bridge to be cut and lifted SRK installed an access scaffold to both sides and the underside of the structure. With a limited track closure and critical timescales for the project it was agreed with the main contractor to crane out the bridge with the scaffold still in place.
Once the bridge had been removed, two 26m beamed access walkways were installed to enable contractors to work in all areas of the new bridge, in addition to this ramps on both sides of the river bank enabled access to all bridge storage areas. Scaffolds were also erected off of pontoons to the underside of the new bridge. Handrails were installed to the new bridge prior to its installation.
The scaffolds were erected by 25 operatives, working in shifts around the clock, to ensure that the contract was delivered on time.