UKSSH PIONEER HAKI BRIDGE SYSTEM
Providing a 30-metre-long temporary footbridge over the River Witham in Lincoln proved as easy as 1-2-3 for SYS Scaffold and UK SYSTEM SCAFFOLD HIRE.
It was the 1st time that SYS Scaffold of Doncaster and its on-site scaffold team had used the HAKI bridge system.
The 2-phase project involved building the bridge alongside the river (out of possession time) – a first phase which took less than 20-man hours - while the second phase involved craning the bridge into position.
It took less than a 3 hours possession to crane the 7 tonne bridge into position on to two HAKI Scaffold towers.
This was the first collaboration between SYS and Chesterfield based UK System Scaffold Hire and Joe Pearce, MD of SYS Scaffolding, admits that it has changed his thinking about temporary bridge projects, observing: “It’s misleading to think of the HAKI Bridge System as a scaffolding solution – it’s so radically different to using tube and fittings that we now think of it as an engineering solution. But that doesn’t mean that it’s difficult to use: It’s so intuitive that our scaffolders built a 30-metre span in less than 20-man hours – and that included some on-site training.”
Joe is also keen to emphasise that the success of the project was a result of the strategic partnership between SYS and UK System Scaffold Hire. “UKSSH has an unsurpassed knowledge of HAKI products and their expertise and proactive approach provided a vital contribution to ensuring that everything went smoothly.”
The erection of a temporary footbridge over the River Witham in Lincoln was an integral part of a Network Rail project to refurbish a Grade II listed rail bridge close to the City Centre, and provided the ideal opportunity for UKSSH to showcase the HAKI Bridge System to SYS on a ‘live project’.
SYS had previously undertaken similar projects using tube and fittings, when the construction of the bridge took two weeks and resulted in a bridge weighing over 20 tonnes.
The comparable logistics on the ‘Witham Project’ using HAKI were remarkable: 20 man hours compared to over 200 and transport costs reduced by over 50%, the time and costs savings were phenomenal and the finished project was both aesthetically and practically so much better than using tube and fittings.
The procedure was simple: One lorry load of materials was delivered to the riverside and the 30-metre bridge constructed within a day, HAKI Scaffold was used to construct support towers on both sides of the river, the bridge was crane-lifted into position (the only possession required) and HAKI public staircases were built to provide access to each side of the bridge.
The bridge was designed to provide an imposed loading of 2kNsq.m offering a safe, comfortable non-slip walkway and featured internal cladding to protect pedestrians.
