A46 STONELEIGH INTERCHANGE PROJECT ACHIEVES MAJOR MILESTONE WITH SUCCESSFUL BRIDGE MOVE

The A46 Stoneleigh junction improvement project being constructed by Colas for Warwickshire County Council, achieved the most significant milestone of the project to date with the successful move of the new bridge deck into position.

The new bridge deck has been constructed off-line in order to minimise disruption to the strategic road network and was installed into its permanent position using a deck lift and transportation method over the weekend of 21/22 January. Once the construction was complete, the 740 tonnes bridge deck was jacked to full height in the off-line area during the week prior to the move, by the experienced team from Sarens. It was then lifted using a self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT), carried into position across the A46 and lowered onto the new abutment walls.

Colas Project Manager Andy Bond explains “With the combined weight of the bridge deck and the lifting and moving equipment weighing 1100 tonnes, manoeuvring it into place required intensive planning with all teams working collaboratively to ensure everything ran smoothly on the day.”

The A46 was closed to traffic from Friday evening to allow the team time to safely remove the central VRS, and temporary VRS ready for the SPMT to move the bridge deck into place above the abutment walls on Saturday morning. With the move completed in approx. one hour on Saturday morning, the teams then successfully completed the longer, delicate task of slowly lowering the bridge deck into its exact placement on the new walls.

The team then carried out a full inspection of the road and re-installed the central VRS and temporary VRS ready for the road to re-open over 26 hours earlier than planned.

Colas Executive Director for Construction Solutions, Sean Jeffery was on site for this major achievement and said “We are delighted with the smooth running of this significant milestone for the A46 project. The entire project team, including our partners and stakeholders, have worked tirelessly to plan this manoeuvre and their efforts were rewarded with the success of this highly complex phase of the project.”

Cllr Wallace Redford, Warwickshire County Council Portfolio Holder for Transport and Highways, said: “This was an incredibly impressive piece of engineering and construction by our contractors at Colas and Sarens and marks a really exciting milestone for the Stoneleigh Junction Improvements, which we expect to be complete by the summer. The benefits of this scheme to local residents, businesses and the wider network are significant and it’s great news that we are now a step closer to them being realised.