Bridge 30 deck refurbishment, Sellafield, Cumbria

We safely completed the refurbishment of the bridge deck whilst maintaining pedestrian access during a summer heatwave.

The project scope

The scheme involved the removal of Bridge 30 deck surface and footpaths to carry our structural repairs and waterproofing before reinstatement of the asphalt surface on a critical vehicle / pedestrian bridge across the river Calder on the Sellafield nuclear site. Our scope of work included:

• Surveys and setting out
• Traffic and pedestrian management
• Construction of a temporary pedestrian walkway
• Planing out of the existing bridge deck road surface and footpaths
• Repairs to the bridge deck structure using Metoset concrete repair resin
• Silicone waterproofing of the bridge deck structure using our specialist sub-contractor Volker Laser
• Installation of geotextile layers to the bridge deck
• Reconstruction of kerbing and footpaths
• Reinstatement of base, binder and wearing road and footpath asphalt surface
• White lining of the road surface

Key quantities:

• Planing & resurfacing: 140 t
• Kerbing: 40 m
• Silicone waterproofing: 300 m²

Challenges & successes

The bridge is one of only 3 bridges across the River Calder on the Sellafield nuclear site which are required for site operational, construction and workforce traffic. Although vehicle diversions were implemented during the works, pedestrian access had to be maintained across bridge 30 as much as possible to provide workforce access to the operational facilities. This was facilitated by constructing a temporary pedestrian walkway across the bridge which had to remain open as much as possible.

The project was delivered during a summer heatwave with temperatures of more than 32 degrees Celsius. To work within the specification of the waterproofing silicone, we had to work at night when the temperature dropped to acceptable levels.

Due to the security classification of the Sellafield nuclear site, our subcontractors were required to have security clearance. Due to the short term and urgent need of the works, we collaborated with the Sellafield Ltd security department to allow our subcontractor to work on site under special security arrangements.