Scammonden Bridge

Last updated

Scammonden Bridge
Scammonden Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 717377.jpg
View east towards the reservoir
Coordinates 53°38′52″N1°55′52″W / 53.6477°N 1.9310°W / 53.6477; -1.9310
Carries B6144 road
Crosses M62 motorway
Locale Kirklees
Maintained by National Highways
Characteristics
Design Open spandrel fixed-arch
Material Reinforced concrete
Total length656 ft (200 m)
Width24 ft (7.3 m)
Height120 ft (37 m)
Longest span410 ft (120 m)
No. of spans1
History
Designer Colonel Stuart Maynard Lovell
Constructed bySir Alfred McAlpine
Construction start1967
Opened10 December 1970
Inaugurated14 October 1971
Location
Scammonden Bridge

Scammonden Bridge, also known locally as the Brown Cow Bridge (after the nearby Brown Cow Inn, now closed), spans the Deanhead cutting carrying the B6114 (the former A6025) Elland to Buckstones road over the M62 motorway in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. The bridge and Scammonden Reservoir to the west are named after Scammonden, the village that was flooded to accommodate the reservoir whose dam carries the motorway. On opening, the bridge was the longest concrete arch bridge in the UK. [1]

Contents

History

The bridge was built for the West Riding County Council to the designs of the county surveyor, Colonel S. Maynard Lovell. In March 1962 a model of the 37-mile (60 km) section of the M62 was displayed in Wakefield, the administrative centre of the West Riding County Council. The route of the motorway, from the A572 to the A640 at Huddersfield, was announced by Tom Fraser on 29 October 1964.

On opening, it was believed to be one of the largest concrete single spans in Europe.

The bridge had high winds; pedestrians found it sometimes hard to walk along it, so a new type of road sign, for high winds, was installed. [2]

Design

The bridge was planned as a flat arch bridge, but aerodynamic considerations led to an open spandrel design. [3] The main span supports eight spandrel columns and there are four other columns over the motorway cutting. The spandrel columns are 18 inches (46 cm) thick. [4]

The arch is a twin box section. Its deck is an inverted T-type pretensioned prestressed concrete beam. The bridge deck is 24 feet (7.3 m) wide. Using computers, its design was calculated to withstand 110 mph (180 km/h; 49 m/s) winds, and was tested in wind tunnels at the University of Nottingham and the National Physical Laboratory. [5] The motorway cutting was profiled with 15-foot (4.6 m) 'steps'.

The road it carried was the A6025, but is now the B6114 between Elland and the A640 junction at Buckstones Moss. To the west of the bridge the M62 enters Calderdale from Kirklees; the boundary crosses the B6114 north of the bridge, and follows the north side of the M62 along Scammonden Water. The road crosses the M62 at around 1,017 feet (310 m) above sea level, northeast of Cow Gate Hill.

Safety improvements

In 2020 work was carried out to erect permanent, 8 feet (2.4 m) high, inward curving anti-climb fencing on both sides of the bridge, following a number of deaths, in order to prevent suicides. [6] Work began in June, nearly a year after Highways England confirmed they had secured the £1m required to design and build the new structures. The scheme was completed in October 2020. [7]

Construction

Motorway under construction, below Pole Moor, in 1970 Scammonden Dam under construction in 1970.jpg
Motorway under construction, below Pole Moor, in 1970

The arch is made of modular precast concrete sections, weighing 9,000 tonnes (8,900 long tons). The construction contractor was Alfred McAlpine. Construction of the arch required 70 miles (110 km) of scaffolding tubing. During the winter there was severe ice build up on the scaffolding.

Excavation of the Deanhead cutting was done using explosives; 12,000,000 cubic yards were excavated. [8] The cutting is 150 feet (46 m) deep, 2,600 feet (790 m) long, and 4.6 million cubic yards (3,500,000 m3) of earth was removed during its construction. Most of it was used to build the 249-foot (76 m) high Scammonden Dam across the Black Brook valley, which was the first motorway-dam project in the world.

The route of the carriageway was set out in July 1963 and the motorway cutting began work in August 1964. [9] Work on the six-mile Windy Hill to Pole Moor section began on 1 November 1966 and was carried out for 12 hours on weekdays and eight hours at weekends.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M62 motorway</span> Motorway in the United Kingdom

The M62 is a 107-mile-long (172 km) west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; 7 miles (11 km) of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deanhead Reservoir</span> Reservoir in West Yorkshire, England

Deanhead Reservoir is a reservoir near Scammonden, in the metropolitan district of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scammonden</span> Village in West Yorkshire, England

Scammonden or Dean Head was a village close to Huddersfield, in the Dean Head Valley, England, before the valley was flooded to create Scammonden Reservoir in the 1960s. The M62 motorway crosses the dam wall and then passes through a cutting to the west over which Scammonden Bridge carries the B6114. The Chapel of St Bartholomew still exists, as does the old vicarage, which is now home to Scammonden Sailing Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Key Bridge (Washington, D.C.)</span> Historic bridge in Washington, D.C., U.S.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, more commonly known as the Key Bridge, is a six-lane reinforced concrete arch bridge conveying U.S. Route 29 (US 29) traffic across the Potomac River between the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia, and the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Completed in 1923, it is Washington's oldest surviving road bridge across the Potomac River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Tweed Bridge</span> Bridge in Northumberland

The Royal Tweed Bridge, also known as the New Bridge locally, is a road bridge in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England crossing the River Tweed. It was intended to divert traffic from the 17th century Berwick Bridge, and until the 1980s it formed part of the A1 road, the main route from London to Edinburgh. However, the construction of the A1 River Tweed Bridge to the west of Berwick has since reduced the Royal Tweed Bridge's importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outlane</span> Village in West Yorkshire, England

Outlane is a village in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, situated approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) south-west of Elland, 3.7 miles (6 km) north-west of Huddersfield and 4.5 miles (7 km) south of Halifax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamar Boulevard Bridge</span> Historic bridge in Austin, Texas

The Lamar Boulevard Bridge is a historic arch bridge carrying Texas State Highway Loop 343 over Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, Texas, United States. The bridge features six open-spandrel concrete arches spanning 659 feet (201 m) and carries tens of thousands of vehicles daily across the lake. Completed in 1942, the Lamar Boulevard Bridge was the second permanent bridge to cross the Colorado River, and one of the last Art Deco-style open-spandrel concrete arch bridges built in Texas. The bridge was named an Austin Landmark in 1993 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial Bridge (Massachusetts)</span> Bridge in to West Springfield, Massachusetts

The Hampden County Memorial Bridge is a reinforced-concrete arch bridge that spans the Connecticut River between Springfield, Massachusetts and West Springfield, Massachusetts, constructed in 1922. The bridge is owned by Massachusetts Highway Department and is located on Massachusetts Route 147. It spans 209 feet (64 m) and rises 29.71 feet (9.06 m) above the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scammonden Reservoir</span> Reservoir in West Yorkshire, England

Scammonden Reservoir is a water reservoir in West Yorkshire, England. Its water surface area when full is 42 hectares (0.16 sq mi). The level of the bellmouth overflow above sea level is 252 metres (827 ft). The reservoir holds 78,000,000,000 litres (1.7×1010 imp gal; 2.1×1010 US gal). Its length is 1.4 kilometres (0.9 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A640 road</span> Road in England

The A640 is a road in England which runs between Rochdale in Greater Manchester and Huddersfield in West Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windy Hill (Pennines)</span>

Windy Hill in the South Pennines within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England, rises to 389 m (1,276 ft) metres above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornwall Bridge</span> Bridge in Sharon and Cornwall, Connecticut

The Cornwall Bridge is a two-lane, concrete arch bridge carrying U.S. Route 7/Connecticut Route 4 over the Housatonic River and the Housatonic Railroad in northwestern Connecticut. It was built in 1930 by C.W. Blakeslee and Sons for the Connecticut Highway Department and consists of six open-spandrel arches spanning 674 feet (205 m), and is a fairly large example of concrete open-spandrel construction. The bridge was reconstructed in 1994 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reynolds Bridge</span> Bridge in Thomaston, Connecticut

The Reynolds Bridge in Thomaston, Connecticut is an open-spandrel concrete arch bridge carrying Waterbury Road over the Naugatuck River. Built in 1928, it is one of a small number of surviving open-spandrel bridges in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maslenica Bridge (A1)</span> Bridge in Southern Croatia

Maslenica Bridge is a 377.6 m (1,239 ft) long reinforced concrete arch bridge spanning the Novsko Ždrilo strait of the Adriatic Sea, north of Zadar, Croatia, carrying the Croatian A1 motorway. It is located between the Rovanjske and Posedarje interchanges of the A1 motorway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maslenica Bridge (D8)</span> Bridge in Southern Croatia

The Maslenica Bridge is a deck arch bridge carrying the D8 state road spanning the Novsko Ždrilo strait of the Adriatic Sea approximately 1 km (0.62 mi) to the west of the settlement of Maslenica, Croatia and 500 m (1,600 ft) south of the D54 and D8 state roads junction. It was built in 2005 on a site of a similar bridge that was destroyed in 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridge No. 1132</span> United States historic place

Bridge No. 1132 is an open-spandrel concrete arch bridge carrying the two-lane Connecticut Route 80 across the Hammonasset River, between Killingworth and Madison, Connecticut. Built in 1934, it is one of a small number of open-spandrel concrete bridges in the state, and was noted for its aesthetics at the time of its construction. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pole Moor</span> Human settlement in England

Pole Moor is a hamlet between Outlane and Scammonden in Kirklees, England. It is situated on a high moorland plateau between Slaithwaite and Wholestone Moors in the South Pennines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciénega Bridge</span> Historic bridge in Pima County, Arizona

Ciénega Bridge is an open-spandrel arch bridge which crosses Ciénega Creek and the Union Pacific Railroad near Vail, Arizona. Originally constructed in 1921, the bridge was part of U.S. Route 80, a major transcontinental highway, from 1926 to 1956. Being the oldest bridge of its kind in Arizona, the Ciénega Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The bridge also holds the title of being the longest open-spandrel concrete arch bridge within the state. Currently, the bridge carries Marsh Station Road, which is part of Historic U.S. Route 80 as of 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lockyer Creek Railway Bridge (Murphys Creek)</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Lockyer Creek Railway Bridge (Murphys Creek) is a heritage-listed railway bridge on the Toowoomba–Helidon line over Lockyer Creek at Murphys Creek, Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by William Pagan and built from c. 1910 to 1911. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Fifth Street Bridge at Shoal Creek</span> Historic bridge in Austin, Texas

The West Fifth Street Bridge is a historic cantilever concrete girder bridge in downtown Austin, Texas. Built in 1931, the bridge carries Fifth Street across Shoal Creek to link central Austin with neighborhoods that were then the city's western suburbs. It is one of only a handful of curved cantilever girder bridges in Texas, built as part of the city's 1928 master plan for urban development and beautification. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

References

  1. "Scammonden Water". Scammonden Activity Centre. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  2. Nottingham Evening Post Friday 18 December 1970, page 23
  3. The Motorway Archive - M62, Scammonden Bridge
  4. University of Bath April 2009
  5. Design Journal April 1971
  6. Sutcliffe, Robert (23 April 2020). "Major £1m scheme to make M62 Scammonden Bridge safer to start". Huddersfield Daily Examiner .
  7. Connor Teale (20 October 2020). "£1m Scammonden Bridge safety boost is finally finished". Yorkshire Live. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  8. Leicester Daily Mercury Thursday 27 February 1969
  9. Engineering timetables

Video clips