Generals Lane Bridge, Chelmsford, Essex

Arcadis

10 weeks - 100 hours possession

£1.5m

Chelmsford, Essex

Location & Overview

The demolition of a 1970s six-span post-tensioned concrete bridge that straddled the Chelmsford slip road and the main London to Norwich Network Rail line. During a 100-hour possession time, traffic was diverted from Chelmsford onto the A12, so the demolition of the entire bridge and below-ground structures could be carried out.

Work, Challenges & Solutions

Protecting the slip road and the train track was paramount before demolition could commence.

A high degree of planning and coordination was necessary due to the third-party approvals from Network Rail, Highways England, Essex Country Council, and the Emergency Services.

The John F Hunt team worked closely with Network Rail on a daily basis to get all designs, forms 1,2, and RAMS approved.

Tree removal and landscaping were undertaken once a family of badgers was rehomed. This involved the installation of gates and CCTV to monitor their movement for 6 months prior to works beginning. Uncharted UKPN supplies were also traced to accurately pinpoint their position, before relocating.

High Covid-19 cases over the Christmas period required extra manpower and safety precautions.

Having a 49-tonne excavator track onto a temporary polystyrene plant platform to demolish span 2, which was over the train track.

Sticking to the 100-hour programme and reporting back to Network rail every 6 hours.

Achievements

Network Rail commented that the project was delivered to a very high standard and looked forward to working with John F Hunt again in the future.

The complex works were completed within the Quantitative Schedule Risk Analysis programme agreed, upon and carried out with no accidents or incidents, within budget, and on schedule.

This was the first bridge demolition project which jointly spanned a Network Rail track & road infrastructure carried out by John F Hunt.