South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 14/08/2014

Update: 1 September

Church Road in Frampton Cotterell reopened to through traffic early this morning (1 September) following the bridge installation on 24 August. Temporary traffic lights will be in place while final works are carried out to redivert utility cables and complete the bridge parapets. It’s anticipated that the bridge will reopen fully in late November.

Update: 28 August

Church Road in Frampton Cotterell should be open to through traffic from Thurs 4 Sept, when the new bridge reopens under three-way traffic light control. This week teams have been finishing grouting the ends of the bridge, surfacing the bridge deck, laying kerbs and installing temporary barriers.

Update: 26 August

The new bridge was successfully installed on Sunday 24 August and will reopen, under temporary traffic light control, from early September. Works will continue to complete the bridge’s masonry parapets and reinstall utility cables, and it is expected that the bridge will reopen fully during November.

Update: 14 August

Work is continuing on the project to install a new high-tech road bridge at Church Road in Frampton Cotterell. Over the last few weeks workers have focused on building new extensions to the existing bridge supports. This has involved constructing reinforced steel cages and fixing them to the existing bridge supports, known as abutments. Following this, wooden shutters, also known as formwork, were placed around the steel before concrete was poured using a large pump to create the new supports.

Over the next week final preparations will be carried out to receive the new bridge deck. This involves waterproofing the existing bridge supports, constructing new drainage, reinstating the carriageway and fitting the new bridge bearings. The new bridge deck will be transported by road and to accommodate this, preparation works will be undertaken on the A432 during the next two weeks. A system of ‘stop and go’ shuttle control will be in place at times, but disruption will be kept to a minimum.

The construction phase currently remains on programme and we will provide further updates as work progresses.

A live video feed of the works is available to view online at http://bit.ly/1mYpC8r

Church Road to close for new bridge works – 27 June

Church Road in Frampton Cotterell is to close for six weeks from 20 July as work continues to install a high-tech replacement road bridge over the River Frome.

During this time traffic will be diverted to allow contractors to complete demolition of the old bridge and make the site ready for the new ‘advanced composite’ structure that will replace it.

Pedestrians will still be able to cross the river during the closure by using a temporary footbridge, and temporary arrangements for local bus services will be put in place before the closure begins.

The new bridge will be one of the first in the UK to be made from layers of glass and carbon fibres bound together with a tough resin in a process more commonly seen in advanced passenger aircraft manufacturing.

The materials used are resistant to frost, extreme temperatures and de-icing salts that can cause problems in steel and concrete bridges, and require no painting or waterproofing. It is estimated that this could reduce the bridge’s maintenance costs by up to 35 per cent over its 120-year lifetime.

They are also much lighter than conventional materials, meaning that the bridge can be installed in roughly half the time of a conventional structure, reducing disruption for local residents and businesses.

This final phase of works follows earlier works in April to prepare the site and divert utility cables.

The six-week road closure has been scheduled for the school holidays to minimise disruption and no other roadworks are scheduled for the diversion route during the closure period.

Some weekend and night-time working will be carried out during the closure, and large dynamic message boards will be used to keep residents and drivers up-to-date on progress.

The bridge deck will be transported to Frampton Cotterell for installation in late August, with the road reopened to traffic from early September. A three-way traffic light system will continue for a limited period after this date, to allow the bridge’s stone parapets to be completed, utilities reinstalled and final road surfacing to be carried out

Further updates and details of the diversion route will be provided on the South Gloucestershire Council website at www.southglos.gov.uk/nfringeworks and the council’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.