Today marks the start of our fourth week of works and we remain on programme. All the road surfacing asphalt, over 2000 tonnes, has been removed over the full length of the carriageway (which is 2250 metres long x 7.2m wide). Volker Laser, the main contractor, have also removed over a kilometre of both the lane 2 half battered and lane 1 high containment "L" kerbs for recycling. Wheeled excavators, or "Rubber Ducks", are carrying out this task carefully to avoid damaging the vehicle parapet and 20 tonne lorries are being loaded regularly to keep the bridge clear of kerb debris. Housekeeping of the site is very important on such a confined bridge, where access for plant must be maintained over the full length of the bridge at all times.
The kerb removal will continue this week, while at the same time Volker Laser continue to prepare the concrete surface for waterproofing by using the fine milling machines to gently scabble, or scrape, the surface. This will make sure that the waterproofing will stick to the concrete bridge deck. The concrete repairs to the movement joint edges are well underway, with high water pressure jets (or hydro-demolition) techniques being used to remove the defective concrete at the deck edges, where the old movement joints have been removed. This work is taking place in containment pods to keep all bridge users safe as the concrete is chipped away. As a result, and to maintain progress, shared path users might be asked to wait for a maximum of ten minutes before being allowed to pass the works area. We appreciate that this is disruptive and we apologise for all disruption caused to our users in this regard. It also won't be long before you start to see scaffolding appear on the bridge deck, which is designed to cantilever over the parapet, so that repairs to the concrete soffits can start.