Reinstated Shrewsbury footbridge flies the town’s colours

Spanning the Rea Brook and used as a regular route by football supporters walking to Shrewsbury Town’s Croud Meadow stadium, the Meole Brace footbridge has been reinstalled.

In order to undertake a necessary refurbishment programme, the bridge was removed in June and replaced with a temporary structure.

Working on behalf of Kier Infrastructure, Shropshire Council (the client), and WSP (the project engineer), Beaver Bridges undertook structural repairs that included replacing steel transverse members along the bridge’s 30m length.

Other refurbishment work consisted of installing a new timber deck, constructing terraced concrete steps on the downstream left embankment to provide safer access for inspectors, and painting the bridge in Shrewsbury Town’s blue and amber colours.

During a 10-hour overnight road closure, the bridge was delivered to the site in two sections, which were spliced together and then lifted into place (as a single 14.2t structure) using a 220t-capacity mobile crane.