Faced with a failing jack-arch bridge over the Birmingham Canal in Smethwick, Sandwell Borough Council and their engineering consultants Jacobs UK Ltd have opted for a radical solution.rnA Matiere pre-cast concrete arch from ABM Design and Build has been installed alongside a century old brick arch structure and an earlier Brindley designed bridge of 1772. The new bridge spans the canal and towpath and is sympathetic in profile and external finish to the earlier structures. The new bridge completes arnprogramme of works to upgrade bridge decks in the area to meet EU Directive 89/460/EEC for conveying 40 ton trucks. A council survey in 1994 found the olderrnbrick bridges satisfactory, but serious deficiencies in the main beam of the jack-arch extension. These deficiencies were remedied, but a recent resurvey by Jacobs found substantial deterioration and a decision was made to design a replacement for the failed bridge section while retaining the older, but sound, brick arch bridges.
展开▼
