Unique lifting technique helps get crucial city centre transport job underway

New Elvet Bridge, Durham

Project Overview

Location	New Elvet Bridge, Durham
Products	Mabey Universal Bridge Mat 125 Mass 50 Hollow Ram Jacks Insite real-time monitoring

After nearly five decades of service, essential repairs were required to restore the structural integrity of the 490-tonne bridge. Due to the constraints of the site, traditional propping methods beneath the structure proved difficult to achieve. To overcome this, an innovative temporary works solution was designed to lift and support the bridge from above, enabling the crucial city centre refurbishment works to be completed safely and efficiently.

The challenge

Heavy Bridge Span

The 490-tonne centre span of the bridge needed to be lifted to allow essential concrete repairs and installation of a cathodic protection system. Traditional propping methods were impractical due to the weight and geometry of the span. Mabey Hire developed an innovative above-deck lifting solution to safely support the bridge while works were carried out.

Location Constraints

The bridge crosses the River Wear, which limited access and made conventional temporary works solutions difficult to implement. Working over water required careful planning to minimise environmental impact and ensure safety for both workers and the public. The temporary works system was designed to function efficiently above the river, removing the need for extensive below-deck support.

Complex Repair Requirements and Project Integration

The project included a combination of major concrete reconstruction, smaller repair works, and installation of a cathodic protection system. Coordinating these multiple elements required temporary works that were adaptable, precise, and reliable. Mabey Hire’s engineering expertise ensured the solution could be integrated seamlessly with the repair programme, maintaining structural stability throughout.

Our solution

After consultation by Balfour Beatty, we elected to use a bespoke truss system, which was made from Mabey Universal bridging panels, as opposed to a more traditional propping solution to conduct the lift and enable the repair work to get underway. This innovative solution also made use of our Mat 125 and Mass 50 high load propping systems in conjunction with a hydraulic system comprising of hollow ram jacks and DYWIDAG bar. The engineered scheme has helped the team to overcome the challenges of water and size, propping the bridge from above.

This effective solution allowed the bridge deck to be fully supported whilst the defective concrete was removed. What’s more, the powerful system was able to lift the considerable weight of the concrete deck up by 300mm so that the joints could be reconstructed. Once completed, the structure was lowered back into place for the rest of the repairs to be carried out. We provided a real-time monitoring solution to track real-time displacement and load monitoring during the live jacking operations.

View Heavy Duty Compact 200

So far, our unique approach has paid off, with the repair project on course to be finished on schedule. Once completed, the New Elvet Bridge will feature a refurbished deck joint on the northern (Claypath) side of the bridge, as well as a continuous deck structure with reduced future maintenance requirements on the southern (Elvet) side of the bridge. The bridge deck will also be fully waterproofed with vastly improved drainage systems incorporated. Work on the project has already started and it is scheduled to be completed in Autumn 2021.

This project won the “Project of the Year by a Specialist Contractor (subcontract up to £1m)” Award at CN Specialist Awards 2022.

Get in touch

“The main challenge on the project was definitely the limited space available, with an extremely tight area to work in. It was for this reason that we chose to work with Mabey Hire, as they really are specialists in what they do. The support we had from the team was fantastic, both on site during the installation and in all the preparation and planning that went beforehand. With these challenging logistics, effective collaboration really was key. It’s great to have now reconnected the community, with the village relying on the footbridge to access the local businesses and amenities on the opposite side of the river.”

Richard Giles-Grant

Senior Technician – Structures Design & Bridges, Derby City Council