This past October, Sarens planned and executed a well-orchestrated bridge replacement for National Highways, on behalf of customer AmeySRM joint venture. When the bridge located at A533 and M56 in Runcorn, Cheshire, needed to be replaced, Sarens capably stepped in to jack up and install the new 1.200T, 67-metre long bridge via SPMTs.

To do it, Sarens deployed six CS450 jacking systems, 56 axle lines of K24ST SPMTs, and a BS610 bracing system. The equipment was delivered via road, with the SPMTs and some of the steelwork arriving in 26 trucks from the UK, while the jacking systems and remaining steelwork were sent via 14 trucks from Belgium and France. With the equipment on the job site 12 days before the move was scheduled, Sarens got to work making sure everything was ready. 

The crew knew they would have to deal with a 6% slope along the route from the compound, where the bridge was assembled, to its final location. This meant navigating a 6% slope up to the A533 road and then a 6% slope onto the M56 motorway. The client provided a temporary ramp which was installed the night before the transport operation and would be cleared away the night after its completion.

The SPMTs had to be positioned so they would run down the M56’s main carriageway, whereas the transport steelwork had to support the bridge outside of that SPMT footprint in order to minimise the distance the bridge deck would cantilever the temporary supports. 

With the team and equipment ready – and the motorway closed for 57 hours – Sarens commenced with installation work. The six crew members worked together to ensure that everything proceeded smoothly during the operation, right up to matching jacking speeds when jacking the bridge up three lines of support using the first-generation CS450 on the abutments and the second-generation CS450 at the pier. 

“The weekend bridge installation was the culmination of two years’ hard work for the project team. To count down the bridge deck installation as it crept forward on the SPMTs from 50m to 10m to 500mm was, for me, indeed the culmination of a long journey. My sincere thanks to you all from the A533 team.” delivery director Aidan Brannan wrote to the project team in a thank-you email. 

UK Technical Solutions Director for Sarens, Tom Betts stated: “The biggest operational challenge was to negotiate the 6% slopes with the SPMTs carrying the bridge at installation height.  The team undertook this safely and professionally, and it looked spectacular.”

Sarens would like to echo his sentiments and congratulate everyone on a job well done!