Burdon Road Bridge
As part of the demolition of Sunderland Civic Centre we undertook the Remote Demolition of Burdon Road Bridge. This required full traffic management including vehicular and pedestrian diversions.
Scope of works
- Demolition of post tensioned footbridge
- Grubbing up abutments
- Reinstating grassed area within Mowbray Park
- Stockpile masonry arisings for processing
- Removal of waste from site
An exclusion zone was in force during remote demolition to protect Operatives from being too close to the bridge while it was demolished. The two excavators were placed at either side of the bridge deck, following instructions given by the Site Projects Manager during the site pre-start Health & Safety briefing.
The Plant Operators used the pulveriser attachments to break down the concrete bridge deck on both sides simultaneously to reduce the weight suspended by the main pre-tensioned cables supporting the bridge span. The pulverised material dropped directly onto the stone that had been spread across the track mats protecting the road surface.
Once the two side elevations of the bridge deck were removed, the excavators moved into position to pulverise the surrounding concrete, leaving the main cables intact. As the post-tensioned cables running through the bridge span were exposed, they were severed and held in place using the pulveriser attachment until the stress in the cable was spent.
The western section of the bridge that remained came to rest within the site boundary onto the stairwell leading from the main courtyard. Any sections of bridge decking that were left on ground level were broken apart to separate concrete from any reinforcement or tensioning cables.
As work continued on processing the main span of the bridge deck, sections of decking at either end of the footbridge were broken apart, leaving the abutments intact.
Once the materials from the bridge deck had been processed and removed from the working area one excavator fitted with a breaker attachment reduced the west side planting arrangement that runs directly parallel to Burdon Road.
Following the safe completion of the work, the demolition arisings and hardcore materials generated were loaded into wagons and sent to the materials processing area. The road was swept clean, and the area was inspected by our Project Manager. It was signed off by the Sunderland City Council Highways and reopened to the public within the specified 5-day time frame.
