Video shows A47 King鈥檚 Lynn bridge repair
A video showing the painstaking work to repair two accident damaged bridges on the A47 in Norfolk has been released by Highways England
The footage shows two 28-metre-long beams 鈥� each weighing ten tonnes 鈥� being lifted into place on the bridges, at the Saddlebow interchange in Kings Lynn.
The work to repair the bridges after they were damaged when they were struck by an over-height vehicle, started last October. The bridges at the Saddlebow interchange to the south of the town are being repaired as part of a wider 拢18 million package of work to maintain the A47 in Norfolk, which consists of around 70 different schemes.
Highways England project manager Ajith Nair said:
We鈥檙e very grateful for drivers for their patience while we completed this vital work. This footage shows the amount and the scale of the work we鈥檝e been doing, and will help drivers to realise how busy we鈥檝e been and why the roads over the bridges needed to be closed while we were repairing them.
Safety is at the heart of everything we do at Highways England, and this work we have been doing on Saddlebow Bridge and elsewhere on the A47 will improve both safety and journey quality for drivers.
The 拢3.1 million work on the bridges began last October, and was completed in May. Work was slightly delayed by the recent cold snap and the unexpected discovery of a crack on one of the bridge decks which requires further repair work, as well as Highways England鈥檚 commitment to keep the A47 open over the Easter weekend.
The works mainly involved jacking the bridge, hydro demolition of the bridge deck, removal of the steel edge beam, replacing the damaged beams on each bridge, and concreting the deck.
Both the bridges carrying the A148 over the A47 at the Saddlebow interchange have been closed throughout the project. During the closures, drivers were diverted via the nearby A47 Pullover roundabout (when heading westbound) and A47 Hardwick interchange (eastbound). There were also several overnight and weekend closures beneath the interchange, whereby drivers were diverted to exit at Saddlebow and go 鈥榰p and over鈥� the closure.
While the closures were in place, Highways England also completed resurfacing of the four slip roads and the junction roundabout itself.
This wider 拢18 million package of work has included resurfacing, bridge strengthening, replacing street lights, repairing drainage along with safety improvements and renewing signs and road markings at key locations along the road.
Now completed, the width restrictions previously in place on the A148 over the bridge have been removed, while drivers will also see improvements to the road signs and markings approaching the roundabout and a smoother surface across it.
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