It’s An Open And Shut Case For Glasgow Bridge

The first opening road bridge across the River Clyde at Renfrew in Scotland is a step closer to completion but, without a substantial piece of creative engineering almost two years ago, one of the UK’s finest bridges might never have come to fruition.

The structure, part of the £117m Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew riverside project, will see the bridge connect Renfrew with Yoker and Clydebank, opening up health, education and leisure opportunities on both sides of the river. This, in turn, will create thousands of new jobs.

The south section of the 184m cable-stayed twin-leaf bridge arrived on the River Clyde in April after travelling for seven days on a barge across the North Sea, English Channel and Irish Sea, having been fabricated in the Netherlands. It was installed on the Renfrew side of the river at Meadowside Street.

A month later the north section followed and has been installed into place by civil engineers GRAHAM at Dock Street, Clydebank.

But, two years ago, temporary works, including the construction of cofferdams, were instrumental in making these latest triumphs of engineering possible.

Partner, Paul Monaghan, takes up the story: “Beneath the ‘towers’ upon which the two opening bridge leaves now sit, there are foundation piers, also housing the motor rooms

“They are located close to the existing river bank at each end of the structure. However, because they needed to be below ground, we had to design temporary works cofferdams so that these pier substructures could be installed.”

The River Clyde having a large tidal range of 4-5metres meant that the cofferdams effectively held back river water while construction work on the piers took place; the temporary works designs included struts and waling’s as well as complex sequencing that included the phased de-watering of the cofferdam itself.

The off-loading of the two 92metre long bridge deck units required the design of temporary bridges and foundation supports which included large diameter piling in the River Clyde; this enabled the transportation barge to get as close to the shore as possible whilst maintaining the operational river channel and removing the need to carry out extensive dredging of the river.

“We completed similar work at Tilbury2 Port where we designed some large cofferdams under very challenging ground conditions.

“The same was true at Renfrew where we were in the alluvial plain of the River Clyde working with variable ground conditions. However, there is no substitute for experience and, when you look at our temporary works and marine pedigree, I genuinely believe that HBPW was key to enabling what we see today: the near completion of an incredible piece of engineering by many talented people.”

Jim Armour, GRAHAM Contracts Manager, said: “The new bridge is a vital piece of infrastructure that demonstrates civil engineering excellence, driving economic growth on either side of the Clyde.”

It is funded as part of the Glasgow City Region City Deal with the wider project, led by Renfrewshire Council, also creating additional connecting roads, cycling and walking routes. These will provide active travel and road links from Yoker Railway Station to Inchinnan Road in Renfrew, and on to the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS).

Renfrewshire Council leader Iain Nicolson said: “This project further outlines this council’s ability to deliver nationally significant infrastructure projects successfully and it brings with it the potential for thousands of additional jobs, investment and developments to the riverside.

“The connectivity and opportunities it will create for businesses, workers and communities to locate here is going to bring visible economic benefits to Renfrewshire and the Glasgow City Region.

The over-arching project is jointly funded by the UK and Scottish Governments through the £1.13bn Glasgow City Region City Deal, a partnership of eight councils working to deliver a programme of work to grow a strong, inclusive and sustainable City Region and an economy which delivers for all people and businesses.

Civil engineers GRAHAM have now begun the required commissioning works to make the bridge fully operational.

Contractor
GRAHAM
HBPW Team
Paul Monaghan
MD Hisamuz Zaman