Eastham Bridge

On 24 May 2016, the Grade II Listed Masonry Arch Eastham Bridge over the River Teme in Worcestershire collapsed while a school bus was commencing to cross. The resultant closure of Eastham Lane imposed a 10-mile detour through narrow country lanes and split the community of Eastham from the A438 and the local school.

Burroughs civil and structural design engineers, working closely with the Principal Contractor Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd were able to successfully deliver a ‘Design and Build’ replacement bridge, in only 11 months for the client,  Worcestershire County Council. The team were challenged by several constraints, including that as the River Teme is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) construction access to the river was restricted to account for the migratory and breeding season for fish.

The innovative design for the 39.7m composite integral bridge with weathering steel beams and a part-precast concrete deck, clad in recovered historic brick, balanced demanding challenges, realising a permanent solution within tight ecological, time and budgetary constraints. Achieving this was only possible because of a deep-rooted collaborative work ethic within the whole team.

Eastham Bridge won both the ICE West Midlands Team Achievement Award 2018 and CIHT GwreiddiauCymru Wales Origins Award 2018.