Project outline

Murphy were appointed as the principal contractor by Network Rail on this bridge reconstruction project in Burnage, Manchester. Fog Lane Bridge is a 16-metre single span under-bridge carrying trains to and from Manchester Piccadilly and Heald Green over a busy single carriageway public road.

Key challenges

• The Fog Lane underbridge is located in a busy urban environment, meaning that early engagement with local residents and businesses was essential to build and foster good working relationships within the community. The site team held drop-in evenings in the local church hall prior to commencement of the project, presenting details of the works, answering questions and providing information explaining the works and road closures and diversions.
• The team minimised disruption by building the bridge off-site, which reduced the carbon footprint of the project.
• Due to the tight timescales of the project, early consultation with statutory authorities regarding asset protection was essential, ensuring that all permissions were granted in time. The tight timescale also meant that design and planning needed to be agreed efficiently.
• Effective collaboration between Murphy, Network Rail, other key stakeholders and subcontractors meant that execution of the blockade was successful and all works were delivered on time and to budget.

Project delivery and innovations

Murphy delivered all civil reconstruction works on this project, including temporary work design. The team on site were responsible for managing all design, health, safety and environmental information between the client and subcontractors throughout the project.

The underlying busy main road was heavily congested with buried services, meaning that the only feasible reconstruction plant that could be used was a self-propelled mobile trailer (SPMT). The SPMT was used to remove the old bridge and drive the new bridge into position. This method reduced preparation timescales, road closures and service disruption. This bespoke solution was developed with the statutory authority asset owners to avoid any load on the underlying spun iron gas main. The width of the bridge was maximized during the design process in order to future-proof the bridge and platform structures.

Before arriving on site, there was an offsite trial erection of all the bridge elements to make sure of the dimensional accuracy of the permanent bridge installation. Murphy employed an independent fabrication inspector to inspect the structure, ensuring specification adherence of all elements.