London Bridge Tracks - Surveying and testing

Descriptions

The current London Bridge was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson. The senior engineer was Alan Simpson, the superstructure was designed by a team led by Michael Leeming, and foundations by a team led by Keith Ponting. The bridge was constructed by contractors John Mowlem and Company from 1967 to 1972, and opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 17 March 1973. It comprises three spans of pre-stressed concrete box girders, at a total of 928 feet (283 m) long. On the upstream and downstream sides of the bridge a track has been provided, below the parapet, to serve the under bridge lighting. The track installation comprises an aluminium “I” beam secured to the underside of the bridge parapet. At the north and south ends of the bridge the track continues into the vaults at the ends of the bridge allowing for access to the track for rigging and derigging a cradle. The fixings for the track comprise two different arrangements alternately spaced along the length of the “I” beam. Existing Installation - From investigation and review of the available drawings held on file. Inspection Regime to reinstate track - There are 110 fixings on each side of the bridge (±5), with 220 fixings in total.