BERW BRIDGE, PONTYPRIDD

Client:
Concrete Repairs Limited

Project Type:
Refurbishment, Temporary Works

In 2022 to 2023 Crouch Waterfall, working for the concrete repair contractor Concrete Repairs Limited (CRL), assessed the historic reinforced concrete bridge at Berw Road, Pontypridd for various proposed temporary loadcase and refurbishment case conditions.

 The road bridge over the River Taff in Pontypridd, South Wales links Berw Road to The Parade. It is also known as White Bridge due to its white surface finish.

 The bridge was constructed in 1907 and is a Mouchel Hennebique design which was commissioned by P R A Willoughby, a surveyor for the Pontypridd Urban District Council, and built by the contractor Watkin Williams & Page. At the time of construction its main river span at 35.4m was the longest reinforced concrete arch constructed in the UK.

 The bridge has been protected by Cadw with a Grade II* listed status since 26/2/2001. It has been given this Cadw designation for ‘belonging to the first generation of reinforced concrete construction, a type of structure now exceptionally rare in Wales’.

 The bridge has been subject to some major repair interventions since its construction, most notably in the late 1960s the demolition of the original solid parapets, deck slab and carriageway support beams and their replacement with a new reinforced concrete deck and beams and a coating of 50mm of wire mesh reinforced gunite applied to the entire exposed surface of the remaining bridge structure.

 CRL were employed by the local authority to undertake renewal of this surface coating.

 Using a combination of archive information, historic assessment data and site survey work, Crouch Waterfall were able to design a phased approach to the gunite removal and the reinstatement with an approved repair mortar. We were able to provide CRL with clear advice on how much concrete could be safely removed and where encapsulated scaffolding could be placed to facilitate safe access over the river for the repair works.

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