As part of the ongoing work to upgrade the A465 Heads of the Valley road between Brynmawr and Gilwern in South Wales, the Lion Hotel footbridge in Gilwern (outside the former Lion Hotel) was deemed surplus to requirements and in need of demolition. Principal Contractor Costain appointed trusted partner Walters to design and undertake the demolition during a 9hr overnight closure of the A465.

Walters engaged a specialist demolition temporary-works-design-partner and jointly studied historical records of the bridge construction to develop a safe demolition sequence.

During the overnight possession of the carriageway, Walters highly skilled team undertook the removal of the steel bridge structure exactly in accordance with the pre-determined sequence, utilising oxy-propane gas cutting techniques to sequentially remove sections of the footbridge and lift them to ground level using a 70T mobile crane.

Steelwork arisings were processed using a company-owned 20t demolition specification rig and specialist hydraulic demolition attachments and removed from site to a licensed recycling facility.

The works were completed safely and within the allocated road closure period, allowing the road to re-open for morning rush hour traffic.

Read the Portfolio item here…http://walters-group.co.uk/portfolio/lion-hotel-footbridge/