Our customer requirement was for Hedley to design, fabricate, install a large scale HPU assembly and cylinders and pipework flushing and testing and commissioning. This project was for a customer in the Civil Engineering Industry in the UK and the hydraulic system operates a swing bridge. Swing bridges require power to be supplied with great accuracy, so that the movement is smooth and accurate, in turn this allows accurate acceleration and deceleration and positive locking in all weather conditions and the ability to carry varying loads so hydraulic power is perfect for this. Swing bridges operate on a rotating design on a vertical axis and in this case it’s a road bridge over a canal. This bridge was added to the south of another bridge, this tandem arrangement allows traffic to flow on an A road, while boats pass through one or other of the swing bridges.

It was a complex bridge structure. The 39m-long bridge was fabricated from 150 tonnes of steel, plus 90 tonnes of steel counterweights to balance the bridge as it pivots. The bridge features a central 7.3m-wide cambered carriageway flanked on either side by cantilevered footways, each 3m wide. The deck height of the new bridge had to match the height of the existing bridge, this presented a problem fitting the operational equipment and hydraulic systems in the limited space below the bridge structure.

Working in conjunction with the client and consultant engineer we were able to develop a hydraulicly operated bridge lift and support mechanism to fit in the available space. This involved a number of jacking cylinders and sliding support structures.

If you have an engineering project that requires precision hydraulics, please get in touch on 01924 259999.