THE CANAL & River Trust has completed a five-month programme of works to refurbish Royal Oak Swing Bridge, which carries Woodhouse End Road over the Macclesfield Canal in Oakgrove, Cheshire.
With the repairs requiring a road closure, the bridge reopened on April 25 following the work by the UK’s largest canal charity.
The increased weight in vehicles over the years had taken its toll on the condition of the bridge, which is one of 13 originally built across the canal, mostly for farmers to access their fields, and is the only one to carry a public highway. Over the years the original bridge has been demolished and reconstructed.
The repairs included an upgrade of the electrical instrumentation, software and hydraulics, which control and drive the bridge to open and close, as well as the bridge bearing and support structure.
Project manager Lisa Shaw, from Canal & River Trust, explained: “The bridge was lifted out and sent away to be stripped down to bare metal. A structural survey was undertaken, which identified remedial works were needed to be carried out on the structure. We replaced the timber deck and bearer beam, bearing plates and several mechanical and electrical components. The bridge has also been treated, repainted and returned to site as a completely refurbished unit.
“A new control pedestal has been installed and relocated to the towpath end of the bridge to improve the view of the waterway for boaters. The traffic management systems on the eastern and western approaches have also been updated and include barriers and flashing warning lights and a siren to help improve road traffic control.”
The trust removed, refurbished and reinstalled the bridge, using a 300-tonne crane, before reopening the bridge to traffic.
