ISS Ltd are proud to be undertaking the scaffolding element of the Tyne Bridge refurbishment scheme for Esh Construction over the River Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead. Access is to be provided largely for steel repairs and blasting & painting works to be carried out.
The project has presented several challenges for us to overcome thus far, primarily redistributing the load imposed by our scaffold back to strategic locations on the Gateshead quayside to avoid the businesses below which have remained live throughout the scheme. This consists of 13 towers nestled between the existing businesses to avoid any disruption. Some of these towers are made up of as many as 15 legs with a maximum leg load around a cluster of legs of 200kN. All of this carries a huge 22m x 20m protection deck above the Gateshead quayside so works above can progress completely isolated from everyone below.
Just to add to the already challenging scope, the bridge remains home to the furthest in land breeding colony of Kittiwake seabirds in the world. As such, provision for their breeding has been facilitated by way of kittiwake hotels installed on the existing main bridge towers whilst the structural steel they are familiar with remains contained and sealed for the refurbishment works.
Installation of the first phase of work is now complete with blasting works soon to commence. Subsequent phases will see scaffold being erected in a similar fashion on the Newcastle quayside next before we tackle the main span access over the river next year and then the main arch works the following year.
Back in 1999, before the days of aluminium beams being used so extensively in scaffolding, ISS’s very own Managing Director was a key member of the scaffolding team delivering this prestigious project and there is a great deal of pride for him and the team at ISS to be once again involved on such an iconic structure, and especially to be in involved in such a different approach this time around, inclusive of so many innovations in engineering being adopted to provide the most efficient solution possible.
