Demolition of Newcastle's Howard Street Bridge

Thompsons demolish Howard Street Bridge with time to spare As part of the New Tyne Crossing project in Newcastle, UK demolition and earthworks contractor Thompsons of Prudhoe have demolished the existing Howard Street Bridge, which was situated over the southern exit of The Tyne Tunnel. The Howard Street Bridge was a 20 m-long, one way spanning, reinforced concrete pinned portal frame bridge supported by concrete foundation piles. The deck varied in thickness from 686 mm at its centre to 1067 mm at the supports. The works were completed during a 36-hour road closure to the A19 dual carriageway, with the handover back to Thompson’s client, Bouygues Travaux Publics achieved six hours earlier than originally scheduled. The job was completed by two teams of 14, working 12-hour shifts with an array of equipment including Komatsu excavators from 20 to 75 tonnes, the largest machine being fitted a 15 m high-reach boom. The works included highway protection measures, earthworks to facilitate removal of the abutment, pre-weakening of bridge deck, demolition of the bridge deck, abutments and wing walls, removal of sheet piles and removal of approximately 200 loads of concrete and 150 loads of soil, or 3000 tonnes in total, within the closure period.