SGB Formwork has supplied its MULTIFORM parapet brackets for the construction of a 100m long road bridge in Derbyshire. The bridge forms part of a new £20 million Industrial Park constructed by the main contractor Weldon Plant Limited of Corby for Goodman International.
The river Derwent divides the development into two areas, which will be linked by the new bridge carrying the site’s main access road. Designed by consulting engineer Cass Hayward, the bridge comprises a steel-concrete composite deck on piled foundations and a river span of 50m plus another span of 50m across the flood plain.
The proximity of the scheme to the river and its floodplain had a significant bearing on the local ecology and the project was required to include various mitigation measures and the creation of new habitats within the extensive flood compensation measures. The environmental sensitivity also dictated the methods and materials used in the construction of the bridge. When SGB Formwork were approached for help with a suitable formwork system, one of the key criteria was that no contaminants could be allowed to enter the water course and no work could interfere with the local wildlife.
The system chosen was MULTIFORM, a cantilevered parapet bracket formwork system that is widely used to facilitate the construction of concrete edge projections and parapets of composite steel girder, as well as pre-cast concrete bridge decks.
The system utilises far less equipment than a traditional under-slung system and is designed to maximise the speed of erection, safety in use and versatility potential. All the work can be done by operatives working from the concrete deck – a major safety benefit and an advantage where there is a need to minimise contamination of sensitive environments.
At 100m in length, the new Raynesway road bridge is one of the longest bridge projects to utilise the MULTIFORM system. Alan Clarkeson General Foreman with specialist subcontractor David Ashley comments: “We have a long working relationship with SGB Formwork and their proven technical expertise and design capability means they’re the first people we talk to when we take on a challenging job. MULTIFORM is the ideal system for a project like this. The length of the bridge means an extensive formwork system is required; the fact that MULTIFORM has so few components and is so quick to install and strike means significant time and cost savings for us” he adds.
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