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Latest News
Mabey Bridge aids relief efforts in Pakistan
Mabey Bridge is sending an emergency consignment of steel bridges to a region of Pakistan recently decimated by floods.
As reported by the BBC, the company is shipping a consignment of 10 Mabey Compact 200 bridges to the Malakand District
of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan to replace a number of bridges damaged or destroyed by the catastrophic floods in that area.
The disaster is estimated to have affected more than 17 million people and has prompted a global relief effort to provide vital assistance to the flood-stricken country.
Part of a £64m UK Government aid package, the shipment of 500 tonnes of steel bridging is anticipated to arrive in Pakistan in September 2010.
Once on site, the pre-designed, modular steel bridges can be easily and rapidly assembled by unskilled labour, thus quickly re-establishing essential transport
links to enable local people to resume their normal lives as soon as possible.
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Bridge 30 Rebuilt using Mabey Bridge Girders – North Yorkshire Moors Railway
A major crossing on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway has now reopened thanks to replacement girders manufactured by Mabey Bridge.
Located in the scenic North Yorkshire Moors National Park, the railway has been used extensively both on television and in film, with the railway
station at Goathland doubling for Hogsmeade Station in the Harry Potter films.
Constructed in 1864, the original Bridge 30 over the Murk Esk River was poorly designed and remedial strengthening works first began as
early as 1906. Recent investigations revealed that repairing the 145 year-old bridge would be impractical due to extensive corrosion so a complete replacement was sought instead.
The replacement girders used to construct the bridge were each 28m in length and weighed a total of 36 tonnes. Due to the very strict camber
tolerances required by the project, several additional surveys were added into the fabrication process to ensure that these were achieved.
Despite works taking place during the coldest winter for years and site access being limited to rail only, Bridge 30 was successfully
completed on schedule. The grand re-opening took place on 27th March 2010 with a party of lucky railway enthusiasts making the inaugural crossing in The Great Western Saloon.
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Mabey Bridge Launches New UK Tower Plant
Mabey Bridge has announced a £38 Million investment in a new manufacturing facility, with the British engineering firm now
on course to become the UK's leading manufacturer of monopiles and wind turbine towers.
The company plans to double the size of the 13,140 m² plant in Chepstow, South Wales, to enable it to fabricate monopiles and wind turbine
towers up to 5m in diameter and 40m in length for onshore and offshore applications.
The new site is ideally situated for transportation across the UK, with direct access to the M48, M4 and M5 motorways and close proximity to the
ports of Newport, Avonmouth and Cardiff.
As part of an ongoing strategic expansion, Mabey Bridge will create 240 new skilled jobs in addition to the
400 already employed in the area.
With extensive experience in heavy steel structures, Mabey Bridge offers a unique range of services including tower
manufacture, delivery, on site assembly and erection.
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New 'Bridge on the River Kwai' - Sri Lanka
A new bridge close to the filming location used in the award winning movie is already bringing benefits to the local community.
The Hakbellawaka Bridge, near the small town of Kitulgala, Sri Lanka was formally opened on Friday 21st January 2010. Located on the Kelani River, the
bridge is situated in the Western Province just 3 km away from the bridge constructed in 1957 for the filming of "The Bridge on the River Kwai".
The Hakbellawaka Bridge is a Mabey Compact 200 steel bridge with an overall length of 116m in three spans of 43m, 43m and 30m.
The bridge has an extra wide single lane carriageway (4.2m roadway width) and has been designed to carry heavy trucks of up to 44t.
Work began on the structure in February 2009 and was completed in January 2010. Prior to the construction of the new bridge, residents had to cross
the wide and often fast-moving river by means of either a canoe or small boat, a perilous crossing which had resulted in several serious accidents.
Travelling by road to the nearest town of Yatiyantota had previously involved a journey of approximately 1 hour but the opening of the new bridge has
reduced this by half.
The new bridge has opened trade routes to local markets and is providing easier access to education and employment in neighbouring towns.
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Barker Crossing Reunites the Town of Workington, Cumbria
Two parts of the Cumbrian town of Workington were recently reunited by a 52 metre Mabey Compact 200 'footbridge', built by the British Army. The temporary
crossing was named in memory of heroic Police Constable Bill Barker who died on 20th November 2009 when the Northside Bridge collapsed under him as he was
directing traffic away in heavy rain during recent floods. These swept away or severely damaged a total of four road and pedestrian bridges, leaving Workington cut in half.
Opened by local children en route to school, the Compact 200 bridge re-established a vital link across the river Derwent. Until the new Barker Crossing was opened,
local inhabitants could only cross the river by train or via a 45 minute detour through Cockermouth.
The bridge was constructed by the Royal Engineers of 3 Armoured Engineer Squadron who worked round the clock in driving rain and freezing temperatures to ensure
that Barker Crossing was opened as quickly as humanly possible. The bridge's temporary foundations were laid on 27th November 2009 and the new crossing was
formally opened just 11 days later.
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Mambassa Bridge – Ituri River, DRC
A vital road link has recently been re-established across the river Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo using a 4 span, 124m long,
Mabey Compact 200 Bridge.
The original Bailey bridge on the site collapsed in March 2007, severing an important trade route between Kisangani and Bunia.
MONUC Blue Helmets and the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) worked with Mabey Bridge to successfully complete the project to schedule
and the bridge was officially inaugurated in October 2009.
The new Mabey Compact 200 Bridge has been designed with a load capacity of 60 tonnes in order to accommodate the heavy commercial trucks which regularly use this route.
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River Suir Bridge, N25 Waterford Bypass, Eire
2,800 tonnes of steelwork successfully completed
Mabey Bridge has recently successfully completed the fabrication and erection of 2,800 tonnes of steelwork for the 465m span iconic River
Suir Bridge on the new N25 Waterford Bypass in Ireland.
Our project delivery team worked closely with the Ascon – Dragados Waterford Joint Venture and its
design partners Arup, P H McCarthy, Eptisa and Carlos Frenandez Casado SL, to minimise costs associated with the steelwork. Fabrication and off site
painting was carried out at our highly automated Chepstow works as part of our £7.5 Million package of works.
Erection included building the river
span out in cantilever and working with the cable and deck concreting teams to deliver a complex sequence of works safely and to programme.
Site painting will be completed as soon as weather conditions permit.
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Mabey Universal Bridge - Changuinola River, Panama
The Changuinola Bridge is situated in the Bocas Del Toro Province of Panama and stretches 91m over the Changuinola River.
The bridge is a two-span Mabey Universal bridge with an 'Extra Wide' roadway and external pedestrian footwalk.
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River Loddon Bridge, UK
A 24m span panel bridge over the River Loddon in Sindlesham, UK, was recently replaced for client Wokingham Borough Council.
The old bridge was de-launched and the new
structure installed in one continuous operation that lasted just 5½ days. The new Compact 200 bridge is designed to carry full UK highway loading.
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Logistic Support Bridge, Afghanistan
The German Army constructed a 3-span, 150m Logistic Support Bridge (LSB) in Afghanistan earlier this year. The panel
trusses were made up into pre-assembled boxes making it a quick and easy job for the erection personnel to assemble each bridge bay. They managed an impressive 10 minutes
to assemble each bay of bridge excluding the decks.
The threat of the potentially hostile environment may have helped with the speedy build but Mabey Bridge site advisor John Hinderer believed it was all
down to careful preparation by the German engineers.
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Pakistan
Mabey Bridge site advisor John Hinderer was in Northern Pakistan to inspect the first batch of Compact 200 bridges that
have been built by local engineers in the earthquake-hit zone.
John then referred his survey observations to Mabey Bridge engineers in the UK for analysis.
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Kosovo
Mabey Bridge site advisor John Hinderer supervised the training of KFOR personnel in Suva Reka in Kosovo.
The training saw attendees from Austria,
Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and the USA take part in the hands-on bridge training course.
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Austria
The Austrian Army were keen to benefit from our experience in an intensive 3-day training course.
The attendees were taught about site preparation, bridge erection and jacking
down for single, double and triple panel configurations of Compact 200 bridging.
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Belgium to the Netherlands
A 3-span Compact 200 footbridge was recently constructed over the A2 Motorway in the Netherlands.
This particular footbridge previously stood over the Albert Canal in Antwerp, Belgium. It has a width of 2.5m to accommodate the large number of cyclists
expected to use it - cycling is a main means of transport in the city.
The Antwerp project was a temporary location for our bridge and when its 18 month period of use came to an end, it was transported to the Netherlands for its
next assignment.
Due to the modular nature of the Compact 200 system, dismantling and relocating the bridge was a relatively quick and easy task.
Our bridge looks set to rest its itchy feet for a while - the Dutch are planning to keep it in place for many years to come.
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Inner City Flyover, Sri Lanka
The Nugegoda Flyover is the third of Mabey Bridge's flyovers in Sri Lanka and follows the success of
similar bridges in Kelaniya.
The bridge consists of five spans totalling over 260m with an impressive central clear span of almost 40m.
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