High volumes of traffic and natural wear and tear had taken their toll on the expansion joints at various locations along the Forth Road Bridge. After a detailed survey, it was agreed that the expansion joints would need to be replaced. Millar Callaghan were awarded the contract to fabricate the radius beams and the expansion plates for the new joints.
Before the new expansion joints could be replaced, the carriageways of the bridge had to be closed to all traffic to allow the existing joints to be removed. All works required a full road closure for the entire duration of the project. The redundant steelwork, supporting the expansion joints, had to be carefully removed to ensure that no damage or misalignment was caused to the remaining sections. When the redundant steelwork had been removed, a full detailed survey was carried out to ensure that each new section could be custom made to ensure that the new expansion joints would fit into the bridge structure, within the very tight tolerances allowed.
The fabrication of the new support beams and expansion plates was carried out at our Irvine workshop. On completion of the fabrication, the new steel components were ultrasonically tested to ensure there were no hidden defects in the welded connections. The steelwork was then shotblasted and painted. Some of the top faces of the new expansion plates received a hard-wearing, anti-slip surface. The completed fabrications were delivered to site, where Millar Callaghan’s installation team carefully installed each section to the tight tolerance’s required, to ensure the smooth operation of the new joints.
