Plate cut
410 tonnes of S355 plate profiled to the shop drawings. Every plate carried its mill certificate number in paint before it left the cutting bay.
Contract 4417 · span fabrication
A 96-metre span, built in five pieces, and weighed twice before it left the yard.
The bridge replaces a 1911 wrought-iron structure that had been weight-restricted since 2019. The road closure for the lift was booked eighteen months before the first plate was cut.
Girder assembly
Webs and flanges tacked on the jig, then submerged-arc welded. The jig was resurveyed after every second girder, because the shop floor moves with the temperature.
Weld inspection
Ultrasonic testing on every butt weld. Four indications came back, all from one welder on one shift; that shift’s output was retested in full and two welds were cut out.
Trial assembly
All five sections bolted together in the yard to prove the geometry before anything went near the river. Measured camber came out 4 mm over the span, against a 25 mm allowance.
Load out
Five night moves with a police escort. The heaviest piece was 71 tonnes, and the lift itself took eleven hours against a fourteen-hour possession.
Plate consumed410 tS355, single mill
Weld deposited1,840 m100% UT on butts
Camber at trial4 mm25 mm allowed
Heaviest lift71 tof five night moves
Mill certificates, weld maps and the ultrasonic reports are kept for the life of the structure and go to the maintaining authority on request.