KVAERNER AND HYDER JOIN FORCES ON TAMAR

The client, Cornwall County Council and Plymouth City Council, has also appointed Hyder Special Structures as the supervisor. The four parties will work together in partnership to upgrade the Tamar Bridge for the next millennium.

Cleveland Bridge was involved in the construction of this bridge some 40 years ago when it was the first modern road suspension bridge in the country. Project manager for the scheme, Richard Fish, said: "We were looking for a sound understanding of the existing bridge and innovation in the proposals for both strengthening and widening. With their in-depth knowledge of this bridge and their track record over the years in suspension bridges these companies should fulfil both these requirements."

The contract was agreed this week and is one of the first that Cleveland has signed under the New Engineering Contract. The team is now mobilising on site with construction planned to take two-and-a-half years.

In addition to strengthening the Tamar Bridge, two new lanes will be added to maintain traffic flow during construction. These additional lanes will remain after completion - one for local traffic and another for pedestrians and cyclists. The work will see the installation of additional cable stays before truss strengthening takes place. New cantilevered steel decks will be built outside each plane of suspension cables to provide extra capacity before removing the existing reinforced concrete deck and replacing it with steel.

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Kvaerner Cleveland Bridge has been working on design development since March last year in partnership with the client’s engineering team and Hyder Special Structures. This initial appointment, the Design Development Phase, ensured timely delivery of the project following Royal Assent for the Tamar Bridge Act 1998.

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Kris Birkett, Press Officer - 01923 423 833