Contractor Winvic is working to repair a damaged bridge joint on the M62’s Ouse Bridge in East Yorkshire, just months after it was forced to replace newly installed bolts.
The £1bn-turnover firm was appointed by National Highways to carry out the repairs in September 2022, but the project has been plagued with issues.
Emergency repair work on the bridge – which was originally due to be completed in 2023 – faced long delays due to the complexity of replacing the structure’s obsolete joints, which dated back to the 1970s.
Now, engineers have identified damage to rubber bellows, which absorb vibration, on the westbound carriageway, resulting in the need for one of the joints to be replaced.
It comes just months after Winvic was forced to replace all the new bolts for the bridge’s joints in June “as a precautionary measure”.
The latest setback will see part of the bridge, which straddles the River Ouse between Goole and Howden in East Yorkshire and serves the city of Hull, close this weekend.
National Highways told Construction News that there were “no issues” with the recently replaced bolts and an investigation was ongoing to determine why this particular joint had failed.
“We have identified damage to a bridge joint in lane one,” a spokesperson said. “As a precautionary measure, and to prevent further deterioration, this lane will be closed until the joint has been replaced. We apologise for the inconvenience to road users.
“The work requires specialist engineering equipment, and we are working closely with our partners Winvic Construction who will carry out the work to replace the joint. This will be completed on the weekend of 13 and 14 December.”
Winvic told CN its “priority” was to minimise disruption for road users. It will be carrying out the works without a full closure of the M62.
“Winvic Construction is currently supporting our client, National Highways, with repair works to a damaged bridge joint on the M62 River Ouse Bridge,” a spokesperson said.
“We are assisting National Highways and the design team by carrying out the necessary repairs.”
Work on the bridge originally began in 2022 after inspectors discovered eight joints had failed.
Engineers then discovered increased vibration from traffic had also started to damage the concrete under one of the bridge’s six lanes.
It led to motorists facing more than two years of delays as carriageways were closed and speed restrictions put in place.
Initially, the contractor installed two sets of temporary metal bridging plates across parts of the eastbound carriageway, allowing part of the bridge to reopen.
It then fixed the two joints that were most damaged later on in the project, and said at the time it expected to complete the work by autumn 2023.
The work was finally finished in October 2024 prior to the subsequent issues being discovered.
The 1.6km reinforced concrete plate girder bridge was originally constructed between 1973 and 1976.
