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6th July 2018

Engineering Marvel: Ainscough Bridges the River Great Ouse

crane lifting

Working on Highways England’s £1.5 billion road improvement scheme for specialist bridge fabricator, Cleveland Bridge, a supply chain partner for the A14 Integrated Delivery Team (IDT), Ainscough has installed the four-beam mid-section of a viaduct over the River Great Ouse on the outskirts of Huntingdon which will carry the widened six-lane A14 over the river and on towards the city of Cambridge. Using a 600-tonne DEMAG CC2800-1 crawler crane, the Ainscough team lifted each of the 70-tonne steel beams into position earlier this month.

The crane was positioned on a specially- constructed platform which enabled the whole series of lifts to be completed from a single location. This maximised efficiency on site by removing the need to move the crane to separate lift locations.

Lee Driver, area sales manager at Ainscough Crane Hire said: “The viaduct is a key element of the A14 project and we were very pleased to have delivered the lifts necessary to put it into position. As the A14 Integrated Delivery Team’s preferred supplier, we have built great trust and rapport with them and a range of contractors on site as we continue to deliver professional, high-quality work along the length of the road.”

Chris Droogan, managing director of Cleveland Bridge UK, said: “The River Great Ouse viaduct is a showpiece element of the A14 project and is worthy of its place as one of the most significant structures in our history. It is also an excellent example of the ingenuity of our designers, engineers and the highly collaborative relationship our site team has with our client on the project.

“The viaduct will have a major impact on improving this part of the UK’s road network and we are very proud to have played a part in its development.”

The viaduct is the largest structure on the A14 project and measures 745 metres in length to enable the road to pass over the river’s flood plain.

The innovative design of the viaduct, which includes a pre-cast deck fabricated at the IDT’s yard at nearby Brampton, has improved the safety and quality of the structure while reducing costs by approximately £4 million.

The structure, which contains 6,000 tonnes of steel and comprises 76 separate main girders and 800 cross girders, was fabricated at Cleveland Bridge’s production facility in Darlington, County Durham, before being transported to site by road over a period of months.

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