Widening Work on Gipsy Patch Lane Bridge Upgrade
A number of Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd crews rolled into action on the sheet piling element of a bridge replacement project that, following postponement at Easter, took place between October 24 and November 7, 2020.
The project was the Gipsy Patch Lane Bridge Replacement Scheme, part of the Cribbs Patchway Metrobus Extension (CPME) infrastructure widening project, for South Gloucestershire council which is being managed by Network Rail. Between the specified dates, Sheet Piling UK had three Telescopic Leader Rig gangs, one of which included a Delmag impact hammer, plus two MOVAX gangs, both of which included impact hammers, working on an intensive programme of steel sheet pile installation, to a tight timescale, necessitated by the fact that this is possession work.
Network Rail handed possession of the site to the principal contractor, Alun Griffiths, during this period of time, so that a safe and traffic-free worksite could be created, to carry out the significant work required in extending the Gipsy Patch Lane bridge. The extended bridge will ultimately allow for the creation of new bus lanes in each direction, plus shared-use cycle and pedestrian pathways, and general traffic lanes.
To facilitate this, the Sheet Piling UK crews firstly installed temporary sheet pile cofferdams in advance of their disruptive rail possession. This aspect of the project utilised excavator mounted MOVAX piling attachments and by working collaboratively with principle contractor Alun Griffiths, enabled both the railway, road and footpath to remain open during the installation. This phase allowed the foundations for the bridge to be constructed in advance of the main bridge replacement, reducing disruption and overall project costs.
Once these temporary earthwork structures had served their purpose, by creating a safe working environment holding back the soil, they were extracted and the steel sheet piles reused. A collaborative methodology was developed to extract these temporary sheet piles and start the rail blockade concurrently with other tasks, which minimised the programme impact to the overall rail possession.
With the blockade in place, the site team removed the track and overhead line equipment on the Bristol Parkway to Newport stretch, then demolished the existing bridge and excavated out the area in readiness for the next phase of work. Once the new bridge was moved into position, teams began back-filling key areas before the railway and associated overhead equipment was reinstated.
The Sheet Piling UK teams also installed permanent steel sheet piles, to form a new retaining wall protecting the widened bridge structure from ground movement. Once again, a collaborative approach with the principle contractor, coupled with a bespoke methodology was implemented to maximise programme outputs around the constraints of the site. These included the suspended line side signal cables, which prevented traditional linear installation. The permanent sheet pile retaining wall also enabled the safe excavation of soil necessary to lower the road.
Our crews worked around the clock on this groundworks and infrastructure widening project, on continuous possession shifts. This helped to keep the project within the dictated timeframe. All resources deployed in this project, in terms of personnel, equipment and the steel sheet piles themselves, were provided and managed by Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd, demonstrating the extent of our resources, in terms of manpower, sheet piling plant and sheet pile stockholding levels.
The CPME is a £57m investment in infrastructure, on the part of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, through the Local Growth Fund. The aim is to reduce congestion and improve transport times through the provision of a quick and reliable public transport system.
In addition, given the fact that our fleet also includes the two unique long-reach Telescopic Leader Rigs – the TM 12/15 LR and the TM 20 LR – which can phenomenally speed up infrastructure widening projects and save vast sums of money – we anticipate that Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd will be handling considerable volumes of infrastructure widening work in the coming years, as existing road and rail infrastructure responds to the needs of 21st century living and working.
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Sheet Piling (UK) Limited is one of the UK's leading piling contractors. Owning and operating a comprehensive range of specialist piling equipment Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd also carry extensive stocks of new and used piles enabling rapid reaction to any urgent requirements or emergency situations.