Hull civil engineering firm Spencer Group has won an £18m contract to complete an extensive maintenance project on Scotland’s Erskine Bridge.
Spencer Group fought off strong competition for the work, which will take four years to complete.
The business, headquartered in Hull, will include steelwork repairs and refurbishment of the bridge’s footpaths.
READ MORE: {}
The Erskine Bridge is the longest cable-stayed bridge of its kind in the world, and spans the River Clyde near Glasgow.
Spencer Group has recently worked on a string of similar bridge projects, including the Humber Bridge and Forth Road Bridge in Scotland.
James Barnes, bridges project manager at Spencer Group, said: “Transport Scotland is committed to the high-quality, long-term maintenance of the bridge, in the interests of travellers and the Scottish economy, while minimising disruption to the public.
“Our approach to the project is to limit the amount of time we will occupy the carriageways on the bridge.”
Opened in 1971, Erskine Bridge is the longest cable-stayed bridge of its type in the world at 1.3km.
Most Read
Spencer Group has carried out a series of projects on the crossing, dating back almost 20 years, including designing, installing and maintaining four impressive under-deck gantries to allow year-round access for maintenance and repairs.
The latest project follows works to inspect and recoat the stay cables.
Spencer Group has been awarded the contract by bridge owner Transport Scotland.
The works will be delivered in four phases - provision of specialist temporary access; surveying and inspection of the existing steelwork; steelwork repairs and stripping off paint layers and applying new coats of paint.
The works will also involve the refurbishment the bridge’s footpaths and removal of redundant gas mains.
Cameron Gair, head of major bridges and bridges asset management for Transport Scotland, said: “This project is the latest major example of our commitment to investing significantly in the proactive and strategically planned maintenance of Erskine Bridge.
“Following their success in the recent tender competition, we are pleased to have appointed Spencer Group to undertake this package of maintenance works and we are looking forward to working with the Spencer team.”
Don’t miss
The contract award underlines Spencer Group’s reputation as the contractor of choice for high-level bridge maintenance projects.
It comes after Spencer Group recently completed a £10m project to complete repair works which followed a fracture that caused the closure of the Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh.
The new Erskine Bridge project will involve Spencer Group teams applying 46,000 litres of paint across every part of the structure’s steelwork, from the bridge deck, 60 metres from the river below, to the towers a further 40 metres above.
In all, it totals 60,000 square metres of the structure to be painted.