Forth Road Bridge

Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group repairs one of Europe's largest suspension bridges, providing maximum cost savings.

On December 22, 2015, the Bridon-Bekaert structures and service team received a call from the Forth Road Bridge team desperate for wire rope to help repair the failed cross member, which had closed the bridge to all traffic over the winter holidays period. The cost of the closure created a significant impact on the Scottish economy.

Our solution
Over the winter holidays, Bridon-Bekaert dealt with a key supplier to design and manufacture sockets. Rope was stripped down from a larger diameter into a smaller diameter to ensure that the torque balance was maintained.
The Bridge maintenance contractor's initial request was for two assemblies, however, the bridge also required 24 sockets and 12 assemblies in other areas.
Our team was present at the assembly of the rope length into the frames prior to installation onto the bridge, ensuring no damage was caused to the wire rope, which could reduce the minimum breaking load. Our team was also present at the installation of the rope assemblies on the bridge site.

The prompt, effective, and safe operations performed by the Bridon-Bekaert structures and services team proved invaluable to the bridge contractor and to the Scottish Economy.
The bridge closure costs would have been doubled without the assistance of our service team.
The bridge maintenance contractor's team was extremely grateful to Bridon-Bekaert and commented that even over the holiday period, when most organisations were closed, Bridon-Bekaert was designing and procuring sockets and strand assemblies.

Bridon-Bekaert dedicated to the project, combined with a devoted service engineer and contractors at the bridge site, ensured timely completion of the operation.