0 to 200 in three months
The 6,000 tonne steel viaduct deck of the new Queensferry Crossing has now reached nearly 200 metres since mid-December 2013.
Video footage from Mr Brown’s visit which includes stunning timelapse of the latest push of the viaduct over the Queensferry Crossing piers is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtxmUuyJelQ&feature=em-share_video_user
Transport Minister Keith Brown recently visited the Forth Replacement Crossing (FRC) construction site, taking a close look at new bridge’s the south approach viaduct. He said:
“This is remarkable progress and the vast scale of the operation is even more spectacular when you are lucky enough to view it up close.
“In just three months since the first ‘push launch’ the viaduct has been assembled here near South Queensferry and pulled out across the first two piers of the bridge, a total of 196 metres.
“It is a great credit to our contractors FCBC and 110 strong team from working on the viaduct to have taken such great strides in such a short space of time.
“In the months ahead the public really will start to notice the Queensferry Crossing taking shape.”
The viaduct deck arrives by road in 33 metre segments weighing 72 tonnes from Cleveland Bridge in Darlington. Each section is then fabricated on site into one long continuous section of 543 metres. The preparation of the steelwork currently takes up most of the company’s capacity.
The first push took place in mid-December 2013, the most recent launch sees the viaduct travel 126 metres over two piers, the longest single push in this operation.
The south viaduct will carry traffic to and from the south approach roads onto the main crossing.
Background
- The Forth Replacement Crossing (FRC) is the biggest transport infrastructure project in Scotland for a generation
- The FRC is being built on time and under budget
- The viaduct is made up of two sections of deck, one for the northbound and one for the southbound carriageway. Each complete carriageway of deck weighs 3,000 tonnes in total
- Although the process of launching the deck sections is called a push launch, it actually involves pulling each complete 3,000 tonne viaduct across the piers. This method is using a strand jack situated in front of the viaduct sections from which cables are attached to the rear of the sections. As the cables are winched in, they pull the whole structure forwards on temporary bearings.
- Video footage from the visit is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtxmUuyJelQ&feature=em-share_video_user
Contact:
Mark Dunlop : 07920 595 449