A huge congratulations to our Hertfordshire Framework team who successfully completed seven weeks of extensive maintenance, inspection and repair works to the Kingsmead Viaduct, in Hertfordshire. All works were completed on time and to scope for our customer, Hertfordshire County Council.
The raised 750 metre long dual-carriageway viaduct carries the A10 over the River Lea, the New River and the Hertford East branch line. The completion of inspections on the bridge structure, repairs to the concrete at the end of the bridge support, carriageway improvements, repairs and cleaning of drainage systems were vital to ensure the structure remains strong and reliable for many more years to come.
From the outset our team pulled out all the stops to minimise disruption to road users and keep everyone safe whilst working within the challenging confined spaces within the bridge. To keep the travelling public and the site team safe the programme was completed was completed fully under traffic management; with parts of the works carried out during off peak hours. Additional Impact Protection Vehicles and camera vans were also on hand to provide an additional layer of safety for the site team. To enable workers to safely access and carry out inspections to the bridge soffit on the 65 foot high viaduct, two underbridge units were specifically sourced to facilitate access. This solution not only allowed the works to be completed efficiently but also prevented disturbing the habitat and wider environment within and around the river below the structure.
Also, recognising that the squeezed worksite may provide challenges for workers our Assistant Site Manager, Joseph Boucher had gone that extra mile to ensure everyone working on the project can go home safely. Joseph completed confined his space training ahead of the scheme to ensure he was able to provide additional support to people working within the bridge beams.
Whilst the team were on site, they took the opportunity to identify additional repair works which were out of the original programme scope; saving cost and time for our customer.
Due to the team’s hard work and dedication these works were completed safely and on time.
Well done to the team for completing these crucial works which will improve reliability of the structure, thinking differently to work within challenging environments, providing efficiencies for our customer and looking after each other.
