A 2,400-tonne road bridge that was built on land stabilised by O’Keefe Construction has now been moved into its permanent place as part of the overall Chelmsford East Beaulieu S278 Works (RDR Phase 3) project.

Project Overview:

• Client: Countryside and L&Q

• Main Contractor: GRAHAM

• Scope of Works: Soil Stabilisation

• Value: £295,000

• Project Start Date: November 2021

• Location: Chelmsford, East Beaulieu

The 161m-long, three-span structure of composite weathering steel fabricated plate girders were constructed on a 20,000m2 plot of land adjacent to the Great Eastern Mainline and A12 Junction 19 slip road where O’Keefe had to achieve a C3/4Nmm2 from a screened ballast material on the top of two layers and a 30% CBR on the lower 300mm of existing ground.

Soil samples tested at O’Keefe’s in-house laboratory at its headquarters in Kent proved that could be achieved and after two winter months processing 11,000m3 of soil, lime and cement using O’Keefe’s Wirtgen WR2500 soil stabilising machines, the site was ready for the bridge construction to start.

Andrew Henry, Contracts Director for principal contractor GRAHAM, said: “We chose the soil stabilisation option so that we didn’t have to import and export loads of material which would have been challenging in itself and less environmentally friendly.”

O’Keefe’s soil contracts manager, Brian Doogue, added: “The platform we stabilised stood up to the winter weather, with construction plant traffic and particularly heavy loadings. The only other option would have to be a concrete slab and the cost difference would have been huge.

“We have worked for the client previously on Tilbury 2 and have a good relationship. This time, the design was completed by the client and we had to carry out the trials to prove we could meet their requirements.” 

The Chelmsford East Beaulieu S278 Works (RDR Phase 3) project will connect the A130 Essex Regiment Way and the Beaulieu and Channels housing developments, on the west side of the Great Eastern Main Line, to the A12 Boreham interchange on the east side of the railway.

Work on the Chelmsford East Beaulieu S278 (RDR Phase 3) project is expected to complete in Spring 2023.