Iconic Adur Ferry Bridge opens in Shoreham-by-Sea
A stunning and innovative new steel footbridge manufactured by Mabey Bridge Ltd has been officially unveiled at Shoreham-by-Sea by His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester.
The Adur Ferry Bridge, which represents a £10 million investment, replaces a previous concrete bridge that had reached the end of its useful life, and will allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross the River Adur and salt flats in style.
The 214 metre bridge is an outstanding architectural triumph and features a central section supported by a mast and cable-stay design to deliver a swing-bridge solution to allow river traffic to pass. This 50-metre platform section rests on a mechanism in the central concrete pier of the bridge that can rotated to an open position in just three minutes.
The bridge has been designed and built with sustainability in mind and features low energy lighting and glass sides which allows unobstructed views for people crossing. The bridge is wide at 4 metre to allow easy crossing for both pedestrians and cyclists. This is a significant improvement on the previous bridge which was just 1.5 metre wide.
“The new Adur Ferry Bridge has been met with almost unanimous approval from the local community”, explains Chris Reynolds, Senior Site Manager, Mabey Bridge. “At all stages of the design and construction West Sussex County Council and main contractor Osborne liaised with the community, even running a vote for local people to decide on the name of the bridge.
“The finished structure is truly stunning and offers pedestrians and cyclists a very positive and pleasant experience when crossing. The bridge is in quite a challenging situation and its design and installation needed to consider the harsh and salty marine environment as well as a tidal range of up to seven metres. Mabey Bridge manufactured and delivered the steel components for the bridge and worked closely with Osborne to ensure the council were provided with an iconic bridge that will provide excellence service to the people of Shoreham-on-Sea for many decades to come.”
The bridge took 72,000 man hours to construct, with a crane barge lifting the six main sections and the central swing section into place.
It took 6000 hours for Mabey Bridge to fabricate the steel girders at the company’s facility in South Wales. The 700 tonnes of steelwork was placed onto barges in Shoreham harbour and floated into position alongside the specialist crane prior to lifting in.
The Adur Ferry Bridge was officially unveiled 13th November 2013 by His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester. A day of celebration activities included a conga by the local people, crossings by school children, and a firework display.