Winvic was selected as one of 50 contractors in September 2021 to share £3.6bn of road renewal works on England’s motorways and trunk roads over the next six years. For a company better known as a ‘sheds and beds’ specialist, the appointment cemented its repositioning as a multidisciplinary contractor.
Winvic was selected specifically for Lot 8 – structures, waterproofing & expansion joints – in four of the six regions. [See our previous report here.]
Therefore, when routine investigations to the M62 Ouse Bridge, between Goole and Howden in Yorkshire, identified a partial failure of a joint on the eastbound carriageway, Winvic got the call.
The Ouse Bridge is a 1.6km, 29-span reinforced concrete plate girder bridge that spans the river Ouse. It was built between 1973 and 1976 by Costain.
It was discovered that increased vibration from traffic had started to damage the concrete under lane three and a bridge joint, which allows the carriageway to expand and contract with the weather. A contraflow was immediately put into place, reducing traffic on the eastbound carriage to one lane, to allow temporary works to begin, while a series of overnight road closures during the week beginning 13th June facilitated a second eastbound traffic lane to open on Saturday 18th June to minimise disruption to road users.
.png)
Winvic installed temporary metal bridging plates across parts of the eastbound carriageway, which enabled a further eastbound lane and the eastbound exit slip road at junction 37 to be reopened on Friday 8th July.
Winvic is not working alone. Jacobs is designing the repairs; traffic management is being led by Amey; specialist contractor VSL (a Bouygues company) is doing the actual joint repair and replacement. Together the companies are currently replacing all eight joints across both carriageways. Temporary bridging plates have been installed over the damaged bridge joints as a temporary mitigation measure, and a second set will be added this autumn. The two most critically damaged joints on the eastbound carriageway will be replaced by spring 2023 and the project will be fully complete in autumn 2023.
Winvic’s director of civils and infrastructure, Rob Cook, said: “We have been working hard with National Highways and the Yorkshire North East region to mobilise the scheme delivery framework since we were awarded our place on it, so we were able to mobilise rapidly on this project on the M62 Ouse Bridge to begin the necessary immediate temporary works. We put multiple interfaces in place with the National Highway team and the other project partners, so we could work as one-team, towards one-goal with safety as the ultimate priority.”
He continued: “The surfacing and bridging plate works have met programme expectations, meaning road users have been able to go back to using multiple carriageways and the programme is in place to install more plates this autumn; while the priority always must be safety, it’s also crucial that disruptions to people’s journeys is minimised as quickly as possible and negate the need for full road closures as much as possible. Once the permanent solution has been fully designed and fabricated, we will undertake these permanent works, facilitating the long-term safe use of the Ouse Bridge.”
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
