Cleveland Bridge UK is returning to the Newport Transporter Bridge in Wales to renovate the structure which it helped build more than 100 years ago.
The specialist steel engineering and construction company specialist will renovate and rebuild components of the 197m-long bridge that was opened in 1906.
The historically important bridge in south-east Wales crosses the River Usk as it empties into the Severn Channel, close to the city of Newport. It is one of only six transporter bridges that remain in use worldwide and one of two operational in the UK; the other is the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge in north-east England.
Cleveland Bridge’s contract with the Newport council included restoration of the wooden and steel parts of the gondola which carries vehicles and pedestrians across the river.
The company will also restore lost architectural features and see the repair of the bridge’s cross beams and anchorage housing, as well as replacing rotting timbers and worn anchor pins and cables on the main booms. Cables and sockets will be replaced and a complete corrosion prevention programme will be implemented.
Work started this month for completion at the start of 2022, said Chris Droogan, managing director of Cleveland Bridge UK. “We are exceptionally proud to have secured the restoration project almost 120 years later. We feel we have a duty of care to ensure that this bridge continues to be an essential part of the area’s transport infrastructure for the next 100 years.”
Cleveland Bridge UK focuses on the fabrication and erection of steel bridges, high-rise buildings and other steel structures. The company can process 1,000 tonnes of steel per week on its 9 hectare site in Darlington, England. Outside the UK it operates in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, China and India.
