Mammoet has completed the heavy lift and transport of all four steel sections for the New Wear Footbridge, marking a key milestone in the project. This bridge, essential to Riverside Sunderland’s infrastructure, will connect pedestrians and cyclists from the city center to the Stadium of Light, home of Sunderland AFC.
Faced with the challenge of working in a bustling urban environment, Mammoet managed to streamline the construction by minimizing the number of modules, simplifying the overall project schedule. As an industry expert in efficient bridge installation and smart site management, Mammoet was chosen to handle the smooth delivery and heavy lifting of the bridge’s sections.
Fabricated in Ghent, Belgium by Victor Buyck Steel Construction, the 250-meter bridge, weighing 1,150 tons, was transported to Sunderland in four sections. Mammoet, in collaboration with marine heavy-lift specialist HEBO, coordinated two separate shipments a month apart. This Just-in-Time delivery allowed Mammoet’s team to install the first two sections while preparing for the arrival of the remaining two.
Upon arrival, the team used an LR 11350 crawler crane to lift the first two sections onto concrete plinths near the water’s edge. Once those were in place, the crane was dismantled and relocated to the opposite side of the river for the second delivery. While the third section was similarly placed, the final and largest section, measuring 105 meters, required strand jacks for installation, as the crane lacked the capacity to lift the 300-ton center piece.
The crawler crane was mobilized from the Port of Nigg, Scotland, requiring 50 trailers for transport to Sunderland. Ensuring that the crane’s components arrived in sequence posed a logistical challenge. “We needed to make sure the trailers arrived in the correct order to avoid delays,” explained Richard Gatenby, Mammoet’s Project Manager.
Additional hurdles included limited opportunities to position barges at the river’s edge due to fluctuating water levels. The team also had to account for the bridge’s curved bottom, which required careful jacking to rotate sections into the correct position during the lift.
Space constraints on the south side of the river meant the crane had to be dismantled and temporarily stored at the Port of Sunderland before being reassembled for the final lift.
