Sarens, working for Severfield and Skanska, installed two bridge sections as part of National Highways’ £282m upgrade of the M42 in Solihull. The M42 junction 6 was upgraded to alleviate traffic congestion and improve journey reliability, while supporting access to the airport and train station. To minimize disruption, the two bridges were installed over one weekend instead of two closures.
Sarens used 40 and 56 SPMT axle-lines, CS350 and CS250 jacking systems, BS610, and MB800x900, which were transported from the UK and Belgium. It took three weeks to set up the equipment and raise the bridges. The two sections, BR01 (800T, 10.5m height) and BR02 (1275T, 8.5m height), were precisely planned and analyzed.
According to Sarens Project Manager, Robert Frost, “The biggest challenge was to synchronise the CS350 jacking system on the SPMTs to jack up the bridges to the installation height followed by their installation.” BR01 was jacked up with four CS350s and BR02 was jacked up with eight CS350s synchronised on SPMTs.”
