Morgan VINCI has successfully launched the final span of the new Upper Forth Crossing at Kincardine over the River Forth in Central Scotland, seven weeks early.
The bridge is being built by Morgan VINCI, a joint venture between infrastructure services company Morgan Est and VINCI Construction Grands Projets, as part of a £120 million contract for Transport Scotland.
“This final launch represents a major milestone for the project,” says John Osborne, Morgan VINCI project director. “We launched the first bridge span on 22 January last year and over the past 13 months have incrementally launched the remaining 25 spans; all of this achieved by a consistent high level of performance throughout from the whole site team. The new 26-span bridge, which weighs over 32,000 tonnes and is 1.2 kilometres in length, is the second longest incrementally launched concrete bridge in the world and is the fourth incrementally launched bridge to be constructed by the joint venture in the UK.”
Morgan VINCI constructed the bridge deck on line in a construction yard established on the site of the old power station on the northern shore of the Forth at Kincardine and incrementally jacked the completed bridge forward, span by span over the river, using two 600 tonne hydraulic jacks. It was the availability of the old power station site that enabled the new crossing to be constructed with minimal impact on the ecologically sensitive and internationally important wildlife reserves established around the Upper Forth. It also lent itself to the deployment of incremental bridge launching methodology for the new crossing.
Ainslie McLaughlin, Transport Scotland’s director of major transport infrastructure projects, says: “With this final push, we are witnessing a real step forward in the overall delivery of this bridge. The bridge deck launch has gone smoothly and the project is moving well towards its target completion date of November 2008. All the site personnel have worked well in completing this element of the project ahead of schedule.”
The new crossing will allow the existing Kincardine Bridge to be refurbished and substantially reduce traffic congestion in Kincardine village and at the Bowtrees junction on the M876.
Work is expected to be completed this year.
Ends
Photo: The Kincardine project team celebrate the final deck launch.
Notes to Editor:
Morgan Est plc is a leading provider of infrastructure services operating in the UK tunneling, civil engineering, water, utilities and rail sectors. Morgan Est is part of top five UK construction and regeneration group Morgan Sindall plc which operates through five specialist divisions of fit out, construction, infrastructure services, affordable housing and urban regeneration.
VINCI Construction Grands Projets is part of VINCI, the world’s leading integrated concession-construction group with a turnover of £30.4 bn in 2006.
Morgan Est Media Contact:
Liz Coyle-Camp / Lyndsay Scanlan
Tel: 01747 871752 Fax: 01747 871960. Email: lyndsay@emc2publicrelations
VINCI Construction Grands Projets Media Contact:
Clarence Michel
Tel: 0208 587 1882 Fax: 0208 587 1889 Email: cmichel@vinci-construction.co.uk
