North Kent bridge will aid future development

Spanning the A249 in north Kent, a 45m-long single-span steel bridge has been successfully installed by Jackson Civil Engineering.

The bridge forms part of a £22.6M Kent County Council (KCC) scheme that will see an existing junction significantly improved with the addition of this new steel bridge.

The current A249 and Grovehurst Road interchange, located a few miles west of Sittingbourne, currently has a ‘dumbbell’ configuration, whereby a single bridge (carrying traffic in both directions) spans the main highway with roundabouts at either end.

With two bridges in place, the junction will dispense with the roundabouts and become a large gyratory system, with traffic moving in one direction.

According to KCC, there is a lot of development planned on either side of the main road, including more than 4,000 new homes. Traffic volumes are expected to increase and the new bridge will reduce congestion, lessen the impact of future growth and address air quality issues.

Nusteel Structures delivered the bridge to site as four braced pairs of girders, which were lifted into place using a 750t-capacity mobile crane.

All of the bridge installation work was successfully completed during a weekend partial closure of the junction. Spanning the A249 in north Kent, a 45m-long single-span steel bridge has been successfully installed by Jackson Civil Engineering.

The bridge forms part of a £22.6M Kent County Council (KCC) scheme that will see an existing junction significantly improved with the addition of this new steel bridge.

The current A249 and Grovehurst Road interchange, located a few miles west of Sittingbourne, currently has a ‘dumbbell’ configuration, whereby a single bridge (carrying traffic in both directions) spans the main highway with roundabouts at either end.

With two bridges in place, the junction will dispense with the roundabouts and become a large gyratory system, with traffic moving in one direction.

According to KCC, there is a lot of development planned on either side of the main road, including more than 4,000 new homes. Traffic volumes are expected to increase and the new bridge will reduce congestion, lessen the impact of future growth and address air quality issues.

Nusteel Structures delivered the bridge to site as four braced pairs of girders, which were lifted into place using a 750t-capacity mobile crane.

All of the bridge installation work was successfully completed during a weekend partial closure of the junction.