Bridge milestone in Barford
A milestone in the construction of Barford Bypass has taken place with huge steel girders lowered into place to start works on a bridge across the River Avon.
This work is expected to take about three weeks and will be carried out by Warwickshire County Council’s contractors for the Barford Bypass scheme Galliford Try Ltd.
Construction of the Barford Bypass is on schedule and the £10.38 million scheme is due to be completed in the summer of next year.
The bridge is a four span steel/concrete composite bridge comprising a main span of 37 metres bridging the Avon River, and three 28 metres spans across the flood plain.
The bridge is founded on 104 No. reinforced concrete piles, each 10 metres deep and 750mm in diameter. The deck is supported by two reinforced concrete abutments and three reinforced concrete piers. The abutments will be clad with masonry stone to match the existing bridge. The deck will be reinforced concrete supported by four 1.5m deep steel girders.
The overall construction duration of the bridge is approximately 40 weeks.
This week saw the first set of four girders (14 metres long) installed over the pier on the north side of the river. This was followed by the installation of the longest and heaviest set of girders (31.5 metres long) over the River Avon, and involved the use of a 500 tonne crane. The remaining girders over the flood plain will be placed working northwards until completion.