The challenge
Located in West Yorkshire, Otley Bridge was first built in 1229 after being commissioned by the Archbishop of York a year prior. Designed using local masonry and with the aim of transporting carts across the River Wharfe, the bridge has since seen many different repairs and extensions over the years, with widening works conducted in the 18th century and the pedestrian portion added in 1957. However, it was in 2023 that Leeds City Council first identified issues with the footbridge, with a new one to be built onto the existing structure later this year.
Main contractor Balfour Beatty was appointed by the city council to carry out the replacement of the new footbridge, tasking us with the design, supply and installation of the temporary structure.
Speaking about the project, Daniel Barnes, Project Manager from Balfour Beatty, said: “Given the central location of the existing footbridge and the importance it holds to people on their daily commutes, it was essential that we provided a temporary alternative in the interim. There were multiple factors at play, with limited access to the work site and the need to divert live services across the temporary bridge. As such, we needed to ensure any solution provided could satisfy all these requirements. To this end, we approached Mabey Hire, having worked with them on previous projects and well aware of both their full service offering and modular bridging solutions.”
Our solution
Designed by our engineering team, the temporary scheme featured Compact 200 (C200) Pedestrian Bridge, a heavy-duty panel bridge made from interchangeable steel components and featuring mesh in-fill panels to prevent debris falling from the bridge.
Perhaps the biggest challenge on the project was the installation, as Russell Ward, Major Projects Sales Manager at Mabey Hire explained: “Space was extremely limited on site, with existing buildings in close proximity, as well as footpaths and other furniture on both banks. All of this meant that we only had a very small footprint in which to assemble and manoeuvre the bridge.
“Using our in-house install team’s experience, we were able to adapt to the site conditions and plan accordingly. Thanks to the modular nature of our temporary bridging equipment, we were able to stagger the deliveries to site, ensuring the deliveries took place outside of peak commuting hours. The bridge launch itself was conducted in seven carefully considered stages.”
The first 10 bridge bays were assembled on the south bank of the river, before being lifted using a 300-tonne mobile crane and placed onto the south abutment and a pre-constructed river pier. Then, using a telehandler, more bays were attached and the bridge length launched across the river, using the pier as the centre of gravity. Following completion of the incremental launch, we constructed ramps and pathways onto either end of the bridge for pedestrian access.
Daniel concluded: “The team at Mabey Hire were able to design the pedestrian bridge bespoke to our needs and produce different iterations following feedback from the wider team and Leeds City Council. Being such an important piece of infrastructure for the town, it was essential that the temporary structure was accessible for everyone, with Mabey Hire incorporating ramps and pathways into its design.
“The installation was successful, with collaboration from Mabey Hire enabling us to quickly and efficiently design, lift and launch the bridge, maintaining pedestrian access across the river.”
The temporary bridge is scheduled to be onsite until Autumn 2025, after which time the new permanent footbridge should be open to the public.
