Specialist road safety barriers aid Gloucestershire M50 Bridge Repair project
Complex essential M50 bridge repair work on three Gloucestershire motorway bridges was made possible with the help of specialist road safety barriers.
Specialist temporary vehicle restraint systems (TVRS) were installed to protect the bridges, located east and westbound on the M50 motorway, while the intricate repair work was carried out.
The extensive two-year project, which was only recently completed, involved replacing the bearings and the parapet railings on the top of the motorway bridges.
Leading VRS specialists, Hardstaff Barriers, installed barrier systems to protect the temporary structures that were installed to prop up the bridges during the repair project.
The very high containment H4a TVR, Maxibloc, designed even to restrain the impact of a 30-tonne lorry travelling at 65 km/h, was deployed in the higher risk areas.
The surface-mounted Multibloc barrier, which provides N2 containment, was used in the lower risk areas of the site.
Hardstaff Barriers installed the Rebloc RB 80 barrier for the parapet works on the top of the structures, providing a narrow footprint of just 300mm, a working width of W1 and N2 protection for tight work areas.
Charlie Crawford, of contractor Golden Orb, who was part of the bridge repair project said: “We needed specialist TVRS for a very complex scheme.
“Working on top of the three structures brought a number of interesting challenges, which, working together, made the site safe with the correct TVRS.
“The Hardstaff team were very pleasant and very cooperative, always doing their best to deliver at short notice.”
Nigel Bullock, Solutions Manager, at Hardstaff Barriers, said: “We were delighted to assist with this very important motorway bridge project, which required specialist barriers to protect the workforce and road users while the work was carried out.
“Hardstaff Barriers employs some of the UK’s leading VRS specialists, who were best-placed to offer advice and provide the most appropriate solutions for this complex project.”
Hardstaff Barriers’ temporary barrier range includes concrete and steel barrier systems, with containment levels ranging from N1 through to the very high containment level, H4a.
All of the company’s barriers have a compliant connection between each other, ensuring that they comply with the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) ‘CD 377 – Requirements for Road Restraint Systems.’
The barrier systems also provide a best value end to end solution with the appropriate performance level of barrier in the correct locations for the site.
In relation to a bridge project of this type, ‘CD 377 – Requirements for Road Restraint Systems’ states: ‘At temporary or permanent bridge supports and other vulnerable structures, very high containment level (H4a) temporary safety barriers shall be used unless the assessment determines that normal level (N1 or N2) barrier is sufficient.’
CD 377 also states that connections between different safety barriers must be compatible and compliant.
