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Restoration of Hull Swing Bridge
01 Jun 2006
Newly renamed Sheffield engineering company DavyMarkham has been awarded an £800,000 contract to restore Hull's Wellington Street Swing Bridge to full working order. The appointment was announced by Citybuild, Hull's urban regeneration company, and the work will be overseen by Hull City Council engineers and appointed consultants Pell Frischmann. The bridge is a Grade II listed structure and the restoration plans have been endorsed by English Heritage.
Once the project is completed this year, Wellington Street Bridge will provide pedestrian and cycle access along Hull's waterfront and around the marina complex, linking the flagship Humber Quays scheme with the historic Fruit Market and playing a pivotal role in Citybuild's multi-million pound city centre masterplan.
DavyMarkham, formerly AK Heavy Engineering, has a reputation for designing and engineering mobile bridge structures.
DavyMarkham is undertaking the project on a total project management basis, including all mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and control equipment. The structure is being examined and material samples analysed with a view to retaining and reutilising as many of the existing features as possible and preserving the bridge's original appearance.
Working on site in Hull and at its engineering works, DavyMarkham will specifically replace the existing centre pintle support structures and slew bearing arrangements on which the two leaves pivot with newly engineered fabrications. Existing drive arrangements will be upgraded with new inverter controlled electric motor and planetary gearbox configurations.
A PLC based system will be programmed and installed for controlling the movement of the bridge. New rising arm barriers, wig-wag signals and a PA system for regulating pedestrian access will be installed. There will be a general clean-up and repair to the wheel track supports and bridge structure, as well as new locking pins, shear connection and hydraulic buffers.
The fabrications will then have a design life of 125 years, allowing three operating cycles per day, with the bridge fully open within 115 seconds, including clearing pedestrian traffic and initiating warning signals.
MJInformation No: 21930
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