A team from Graham will be starting work in the early hours of Christmas morning on the installation of a new footbridge in east London.
The plan is to be finished by 3pm, in time to watch the Queen’s Speech (which should be interesting this year).
The 66 metre-long and 7.2 metre-wide Carpenters Land Bridge is part of the infrastructure for East Bank, the new £1.1bn culture and education district being created on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. The 350-tonne steel bridge will link museums, theatres, music studios and the London College of Fashion with the new business district at International Quarter London.
The bridge will span not just Carpenters Road but also three Network Rail lines and two Docklands Light Railway (DLR) lines. The bridge is formed of a portal frame and bearings, a concrete cill beam and bearings within an existing retaining wall structure.
It has already been assembled on site and will be rolled into place during the Christmas rail shutdown.
Leo Martin, managing director of Graham’s civil engineering division, said: “Our teams have been working incredibly hard on this new link for East Bank. While many people will be getting an early night in anticipation of enjoying the festivities during Christmas Day, our dedicated teams will be working through the night to get the bridge in place – minimising disruption to the people who will reap the benefits once the work is complete.
“The team will be putting the bridge in place using a self-propelled modular transporter rather than the traditional usage of a crane used on similar projects. This provides greater certainty to the installation.”
Rosanna Lawes, executive director of development at the London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “East Bank is a vital scheme to deliver thousands of jobs and opportunities in east London. Our thanks go to all the hard working construction staff who have made fantastic progress, especially those from Graham and their contractors who will be working over the Christmas holidays to deliver a new bridge during the Christmas blockade to avoid disrupting the rail network.”
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