Bridge Strengthening
Project: Princess Street Bridge Strengthening
Location: Princess Street, Ipswich
Client: Concrete Repairs Ltd
Bridge Strengthening with Drill Masters
Princes Street bridge in Ipswich is a busy through road running from Ipswich station towards the town center and is a regular bus and service vehicle route. Originally built of wood and iron in 1850 by the Eastern Counties and Eastern Union Railway Company to cross the river Gipping and modified in 1927 by Ipswich Borough Council the bridge is now of a steel structure with concrete plinths on the roadside.
The council required the concrete parapets to be strengthened with a secondary wire crash barrier on the exterior due to the high numbers of double-decker buses using the bridge on a daily basis.
Drill Masters were tasked with drilling through the 1700mm thick parapets to allow 2x 12mm steel cables to be passed through behind the original concrete bollards. Working on scaffolding over the river on the outside of the bridge a specialist 1.5m long 50 diameter core was utilised to reduce the need to core the parapets from both sides. The job needed to be completed to a tight timescale to allow completion in conjunction with the bridge resurfacing.
It was a project Drill Masters were happy to be chosen for this project as drilling in reinforced concrete is a skill we excel in and our staff hold the correct accreditaions and insurance to perform bridge strengthening and other associated RC drilling and cutting work.
