X-ray work starts on Orwell Bridge
Part of the Orwell Bridge is to be x-rayed next week as maintenance ahead of work to replace bridge bearings gets underway.
The x-ray project will check the condition of the deck and give engineers important information about its structure that will be required when the bearing replacement work is carried out.
The x-ray work, which will affect the eastbound carriageway, will start overnight on Monday 27 September and will be carried out over the following seven nights.
It is being carried out overnight, between 8pm and 6am, when the traffic flows are lower in order to minimise disruption to traffic using the bridge. It will involve short ad hoc closures of the bridge, to eastbound traffic and westbound traffic if required, for up to 10 minutes at a time. This is while the x-ray work is carried out from beneath the road deck.
Temporary traffic lights will be used to halt traffic on the approach to the bridge at Junction 56 eastbound at Wherstead and Junction 57 westbound at Nacton as required, while each x-ray is taken. No traffic can be flowing immediately over the carriageway when the x-rays are taken for safety reasons. After each x-ray is taken, traffic will be escorted at reduced speed over the bridge through the works area in a single lane convoy.
These x-ray surveys are taking place ahead of replacement of the bearings at Pier 5, under the eastbound carriageway of the bridge. At the same time as this work is being progressed, Highways Agency contractors will be carrying out the initial stages of the bridge inspection that takes place every six years and is due in 2011.
Nick Royse, Highways Agency project sponsor, said: “This x-ray work is a highly important part of our maintenance of this vital bridge. By x-raying the bridge deck, step at a time, we will be able to both check the condition of the deck and, importantly ensure the location and condition of the metal pre-stressed cables within the road deck.
"By carrying out this high-technology work at night when traffic volumes are very much reduced, we can progress the project more rapidly and in a safer manner for all concerned. There will be very little for bridge users to see as most of the work will be carried out from beneath the bridge deck."
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