Ouse Bridge (M62)

Ouse Bridge
Central spans over the Ouse
Coordinates	53°43′37″N0°52′44″W / 53.727°N 0.879°W / 53.727; -0.879
OS grid reference	NZ256639
Carries	Road Motor Vehicles (M62)
Crosses	River Ouse
Locale	Goole
Maintained by	National Highways
Preceded by	Boothferry Bridge
Followed by	Goole railway swing bridge
Characteristics
Design	Plate girder bridge
Material	Reinforced concrete
Total length	1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi)
Height	30 metres (98 ft)
Longest span	89 metres (292 ft) (three main spans)
No. of spans	29
Piers in water	4
History
Designer	Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners
Constructed by	Costain
Fabrication by	Redpath Dorman Long
Construction start	January 1973
Construction end	May 1976
Construction cost	£6.75 million
Inaugurated	24 May 1976
Location

The Ouse Bridge is a reinforced concrete plate girder bridge that spans River Ouse between Goole and Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It carries the M62 and is situated between junctions 36 and 37. It was built between 1973 and 1976 by Costain and was designed by Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners. The bridge was officially opened to traffic on 24 May 1976 by nine-year-old Martin Brigham. ^[1]

History

Traffic to and from Hull to the A1 historically went over Boothferry Bridge, on the A614, which was a swing bridge.

The position of the bridge and the M62 resulted from a study carried out in 1964 by Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners. They would also design the bridge. It is a haunched girder bridge.

Regional position

The extension of the M18 (from the current M180), the M62, and the first part of (what would become) the M180 (to Scunthorpe only) was announced in Hull in September 1965. At that time, it would be five years before the M62 would cross the Pennines, and the Humber Bridge would not be given firm funding until the 1966 Kingston upon Hull North by-election in January 1966. The extension of the M180 would also require a similar bridge over the Trent which, like the Ouse Bridge, was the final part of that motorway section to open (in 1979, three years later). The Humber Bridge began construction (on the south-side embankment) in July 1972, and the Ouse Bridge followed only six months later; both were being built at the same time, and the Humber Bridge opened five years after the Ouse Bridge. Costain built the 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) southern approach road from the Humber Bridge to the A1077 at the same time as the Ouse Bridge, including a 320 metres (1,050 ft) viaduct with seven concrete box spans. Both sides of the Humber and Ouse would be linked in February 1977. At the time of opening of the Ouse Bridge, the Humber Bridge was projected to cost £40 million, and to be completed by 1978. The M18 was projected, at the time, to open by mid-1978, but opened in February 1979.

Design

In the early stages an immersed tube tunnel was considered, which was thought to be too expensive. The superstructure was designed by Redpath Dorman Long and G Maunsell & Partners. 1,310 metres (4,300 ft) of the River Ouse had to be bridged. The area was in the Boothferry district of Humberside. The gradient of the road on the approach to the bridge is 1 in 33.

Construction

View from underneath

The Ouse Bridge Contract for £6.75 million (£103 million in 2023) was awarded on Friday 5 January 1973 to a consortium of Costain Civil Engineering and Redpath Dorman Long. At that time there were 76 miles of M62 from Tarbock to Ferrybridge. ^[2]

A box girder was asked for, but the consortium submitted a plate girder instead. A box girder design was not chosen due to recent accidents, and an inquiry by the Institution of Structural Engineers. ^[3]

7,000 tons of steel came from RDL plants in Teesside and Scunthorpe. There were steel supply problems. The embankment started construction on Monday 22 January 1973. ^[4] Main construction started on Saturday 1 April 1973, by the 2,000 ton American floating crane 'Big R', with a 180-ft-high jib, which could lift 100 tons; the ship was built in 1961 for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel. Bob Adams from Virginia and John Anderson from Portland Oregon worked on the bridge for Raymond Concrete Pile Company subsidiary. ^[5] There were 120 large steel cylinder piles of 1.5-metre (4 ft 11 in) diameter and 20 metres (66 ft) long driven into the ground by a self-elevating platform barge with a steam hammer. ^[6]

For the concrete, sand came from Pollington and also PFA from nearby coal power stations. ^[7] There were 96 piles in the river.

Steel erection of girders was to begin in December 1973, but started in October 1974. ^[8] The roadway was supported by a lattice of girders from the beams. ^[9]

On Sunday 20 July 1975 three 86-ton 100-ft girders on the centre pier in the river slipped, ^{[10] [11]} with a partial collapse of a military trestle on pier 15. ^[12]

The last section was fitted at 2pm on Tuesday 14 October 1975 ^{[13] [14] [15]}

References

1. Penson, Ruby (3 May 2022). "The Ouse Bridge story – a beacon that means you're nearly home". HullLive. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
2. Hull Daily Mail Saturday 6 January 1973, page 1
3. Hull Daily Mail Friday 4 January 1974, page 9
4. Hull Daily Mail Monday 22 January 1973, page 5
5. Hull Daily Mail Friday 30 March 1973, page 1
6. "Raymond International". Raymondintl.com. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
7. Hull Daily Mail Thursday 17 May 1973, page 16
8. Hull Daily Mail Saturday 15 February 1975, page 7
9. Hull Daily Mail Thursday 20 February 1975, page 8
10. Hull Daily Mail Monday 21 July 1975, page 1
11. Hull Daily Mail Tuesday 22 July 1975, page 1
12. Gosneg, J. (14 August 1975). "OUSE BRIDGE. WHAT WENT WRONG AT PIER 15?". Contract Journal. 266 (5006) – via Trid.trb.org.
13. Hull Daily Mail Monday 13 October 1975, page 1
14. Hull Daily Mail Monday 24 May 1976, page 6
15. Hull Daily Mail Tuesday 25 May 1976, page 6

External links

• Motorway Archive
• Construction
• East Riding bridges
• Structurae

Bridges over the River Ouse
Upstream: Boothferry Bridge	Downstream: Goole railway swing bridge