Foryd Harbour Bridge - an update

It's often the case that I report on interesting bridge projects but then never follow up on their progress. One such case is the Foryd Harbour Bridge, being built in Rhyl, in north Wales.

In June 2009 I reported the announcement of a winner in the Foryd Harbour bridge design competition, an unusual twin-bascule "drawbridge" type structure, designed by Gifford (now part of Ramboll) and to be built by Dawnus Construction. I also provided a few details of how the £4m design was proposed to work, including its low-maintenance GRP decks, and showed some of the unsuccessful design competition entries.

It took until March 2011 for the design to secure planning consent, and at the time it was stated that off-site fabrication would take place during 2011, with a site start in 2012.

Now the project seems to be making much better progress. According to the offical project website, the first of the two decks was delivered to site on 20th March 2013, with the second arriving just a few days ago, on 8th May. Delivery of the bridge mast is scheduled for 29th May, with the bridge decks craned into place at the beginning of June. I haven't seen any date announced for completing the bridge and opening to the public.

Isle of Wight based AM Structures, who fabricated the complex fibre-reinforced plastic decks, have a few images from the fabrication phase on their website. They make it immediately apparent that this is an exceptionally bold project, a real step forward in FRP bridge design and manufacture.

There are also some photos to be found on Facebook of the construction site, showing the bridge pier, abutment, and the first of the decks. However, for the best visual update on works, here's a YouTube video taken from a remote-controlled aerial camera, after the first deck unit had arrived on site.