The first major steel section of the Gull Wing bridge in Lowestoft has been moved into its final position over the East Suffolk railway line following a successful weekend-long track possession and a complex engineering operation.
Farrans is constructing the bridge for Suffolk County Council.
The North Approach Viaduct (NAV1) section arrived at the construction site on Lake Lothing on Tuesday March 1 on a barge following a 32-hour crossing from Victor Buyck Steel Construction in Ghent in Belgium.
It weighed 380 tonnes on delivery. Since then, the bridge has had a reinforced concrete deck and parapets added to it and in its move to its final position it weighed close to 1,450 tonnes.
The operation began at midnight on Friday evening and concluded on Monday at 5am when the line was returned to Network Rail.
NAV1 was moved using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs), multi-axle hydraulic units which can be added together depending on the length of the load.
Sixteen individual axles in two rows of two maneuvered the section into its final position.
