XERVON Palmers has been carrying out a contract for Northumberland County Council and the Department for Transport providing access for the £3 million refurbishment of the historic Ovingham Bridge over the River Tyne.
Scaffolding and access work began in March last year and the bridge closed to traffic on June 30th – and will remain closed until June 2015, whilst specialist contractors carry out work to prevent the spread of an invasive plant species on the bank which is damaging the structure. In addition, the extensive bridge refurbishment consists of replacing the existing deck construction, cross girders, deck plates and fitting new kerbs, along with refurbishing the bridge metalwork and lattice trusses and waterproofing works.
XERVON Palmers has been providing expert, bespoke scaffolding and access on the 166m long bridge, mainly of a tube and fitting and scaffolding board construction.
The team have provided a special design with flood water protected scaffold towers around the bridge columns in a buttress structure, for the sections going under water. These have been designed to protect the scaffold from the might of the River Tyne during winter high-water and flooding.
Further design innovation has been provided at Ovingham Bridge with a Palmers-designed aluminium bridging panel beam system – created to minimise the amount of fittings required.
Ian McFarlane, Director for Business & Project Development at XERVON Palmers said, “The scaffolding structure we have provided has worked perfectly in providing a safe working platform for the bridge repairs and renovations, whilst standing solid in the middle of the forceful River Tyne.”
