Drumahoe, U.K. - After a very busy period in the workshop and on site, Victor Buyck installed the bridge pieces for structure S05A onto their final location during the weekend. 

Victor Buyck fabricated the plate girders from weathering steel plates in its workshop in Eeklo (Belgium) and transported the 12 elements to site by means of exceptional transport. The elements were 28m long by 3,35 m wide and weighed around 45 ton each.

On site our erectors and welders assembled and welded these plate girders together on a preassembly terrain to form two braced pairs, each weighing around 280 tonnes. Upon completion each braced pair is 84 meter long, 4meter wide and 3,35 meter high.

The installation is done with a special LR 1600-2 crawler crane. First, the crane picked up the braced pair on the preassembly area and afterwards moved it towards the abutments where it laid them down into their final position. The operation started on Saturday 15^th of August around 8.00am and after two long days on site, the pieces were safely installed and the operation came to an end around 6.00pm on Sunday the 16^th of August, well within time.

In the next couple of days our erectors will install the bracings that connect the two braced pairs to form one large bridge structure, after which SWS JV will execute the concrete works for the bridge deck.

In the meantime we are also working hard in our office and factory in Eeklo to fabricate two more structures (S05B and S07) that will be delivered to site early 2021.

Victor Buyck is carrying out the fabrication, transport and erection of the steel structures in the context of the A6 D2D dualling scheme

• Principle contractor: Sacyr Wills Bross Somague Joint Venture (SWS JV)
• Principle designer: Roughan & O’Donovan (ROD)
• Project Manager: AECOM
• Client: Department of Infrastructure Northern Ireland