As part of the A465 Heads of the Valley dual road upgrade between Brynmawr and Gilwern in South Wales, the aging, reinforced concrete Clydach Footbridge was deemed surplus to requirements and in need of demolition to allow realignment of the new road. Costain appointed Walters to undertake the demolition works during a 24hr closure of the A465 road.

Following appointment, Walters engaged with a trusted, specialist demolition temporary works design partner to jointly study historical records of the bridge construction and develop a safe demolition sequence. A plan was developed and submitted to Costain for review and independent design checking. Following approval, Walters undertook the phased removal of the bridge using company-owned demolition specification machines and attachments during a 24hr closure of the A465 Heads of the Valley road.

Walters installed a bespoke timber mat and stone carriageway protection system allowing the machines to access the carriageway area to demolish the bridge. All arisings from the demolition were removed from the carriageway protection deck to local storage areas by articulated dump trucks. Once the “on-road” phase of the work was completed, Walters removed all rubble and steel arisings from site to allow the road to re-open.

The works were completed safely within the allotted time period and the road was successfully re-opened to traffic as scheduled.