M8 bridge works completed quickly

The refurbishment of three bridges over the M8 has been completed ahead of schedule.

The work, which was carried out by Raynesway Construction, a subsidiary of Balfour Beatty, was finished 24 days before the end of a 75-day contract.

The contract, carried out for Transport Scotland and supervised by BEAR Scotland, was to renew the paint protection system on the bridges over the motorway at Harthill, Shotts and Duntiland. Each bridge was grit blasted to remove the existing paint protection system, then any necessary steel and concrete repairs were carried out before the new paint protection system was applied.

Stephen Scott, managing director of Raynesway Construction, said: “We are delighted to have delivered this contract ahead of schedule for Transport Scotland. It is the result of hard work and careful planning by the project team who instigated a work programme that ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That the work was carried out at height, within traffic management on a high speed road and was still successfully completed more than three weeks early really is testament to the dedication and lateral thinking involved on the contract.”

Raynesway Construction closely controlled the programme from the start of the contract and put in place measures to prevent delays, such as doubling up on items of plant so that work could continue in the event of break-downs.

By liaising with West Lothian and North Lanarkshire Councils to arrange for lane closures on the bridges themselves, Raynesway Construction was able to store plant and materials on each bridge as it was being worked on, saving time by eliminating the need to move these every time a new phase of work began. This also allowed the works to be accessed from the top side of the bridge, with obvious safety benefits for the project team as it limited the need for people to gain access to the bridges from the busy M8.

The works were carried out under traffic management with no motorway closures required for the project.