Country: United Kingdom
Key Area: Transportation
Services: Bridge Engineering,Civil Engineering,Transportation Infrastructure Design

As part of Opus’ commission managing Area 13 for the Highways Authority, Opus undertook all stages of bridge work at East Markham from project identification through to supervision of the works contract. 

East Markham is a three span simply supported bridge, constructed in 1976, which carries the A57 Trunk Road over the East Coast Railway Mainline.Assessment showed that although the structure was capable of carrying full assessment live loading, the existing brick clad/ reinforced concrete core parapet did not meet the required loading standard for P6 high level containment.

The project, with a scheme value of £525,000, needed close liaison with the highway and railway authorities (East Coast Main Line) to ensure that delays on both networks were kept to a minimum.
Substantial refurbishment work was programmed alongside the parapet upgrade and strengthening work detailed above. The refurbishment work included; concrete repairs, crack injection, cleaning and treatment of substructure elements, and replacement of the bridge bearings and carriageway joints.

The east and west end spans are constructed of in situ reinforced concrete and comprise a beam and slab arrangement.  Transverse diaphragms are provided orthogonally to the main longitudinal beams along the span.  End diaphragms are provided parallel to the lines of support at the piers and abutments. A small cantilever section of deck extends beyond the line of support at each abutment.
The centre span consists of 12 no. M5 precast pre-stressed concrete beams with a 160mm thick in situ reinforced concrete top slab.

The intermediate supports comprise reinforced concrete leaf piers supported on pad foundations.  The abutments are cast integrally with the end decks and consist of discrete columns, supported by bankseat / pad foundations and connected by Mesnager type hinges.