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Ainscough Crane Hire’s Ipswich Depot has played a pivotal role in the cleaning of one of the town’s key landmarks.
The Sir Bobby Robson Bridge was built in 2009 and named in honour of the legendary Ipswich Town manager, who died that year. The 60-metre cable-stayed footbridge is second tallest structure in Ipswich and sits above the River Gipping, providing a link between West End Road and the residential area opposite.
The local Ainscough team was hired by Suffolk Highways, to provide a full contract lift with a 60T crane. The project saw the crane’s man basket being lifted to 40m to allow three members of the Suffolk Highways team to complete a safety inspection of the bridge, enabling the officials to confirm it remains safe for pedestrians and cyclists to use.
The inspection also provided officials with the perfect opportunity to clean the bridge, removing the significant amounts of algae that had settled upon it since it opened nearly a decade ago.
Having begun on 29th October, the work took four days to complete with local television and radio reporting from the site on the project’s progress.
Ipswich Depot Manager Pete Wallis said: “Our Ipswich team was proud to deliver a lift that allowed the Sir Bobby Robson Bridge to be given a vital safety inspection as well as well as some much needed TLC. Since it was built nearly ten years ago the footbridge has become a landmark for the town and our team worked to ensure that the staff from Suffolk Highways were able to get as close as possible to the bridge in order to complete their work. It is very rewarding that we were able to help the job be completed swiftly and safely, with minimum disruption to pedestrians.”
Sir Bobby Robson managed Ipswich Town between 1969 and 1982, with the team winning the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981. He later went on to manage the England national team and club sides including PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona and Newcastle.
