Sheppey Crossing
Encyclopedia
The Sheppey Crossing is a four-lane road
bridge
which crosses The Swale
at a height of 35m (115 ft), linking the Isle of Sheppey
with mainland Kent
. It was opened on July 3, 2006 by Minister for Transport
, Stephen Ladyman
and provides an alternative to the old Kingsferry Bridge
for road users.
, in place since 1959, suffers from two major drawbacks. Firstly, it has only one lane in each direction and as traffic to and from the island increased over time it became a bottleneck. Secondly, it is a vertical-lift bridge and needs to be raised regularly to allow marine
traffic to pass under it, leading to lengthy traffic delays.
Prior to its opening it was estimated that 26,000 vehicles a day would use the new crossing.
The bridge was designed by Cass Hayward and Capita Symonds
, and won the 2007 IStructE Award for Transportation Structures.
It has been built from steel
and concrete
, with around 10,000 tonne
s of British Steel
being used. Construction, which was carried out by Carillion under a Private Finance Initiative
contract, was made more difficult because many of the bridge's piers had to be built on marsh
land.
A jack
ing mechanism was employed to move the sections of roadway into position from each end of the bridge, with the final two sections of deck (piers 7-8 and piers 15-17) lifted into place during November 2005. The bridge project was part of a larger scheme costing £100m to improve the A249 road
between the M2 motorway and the port of Sheerness
.
The new crossing measures 21.5m (71 ft) in width, and carries the a section on the now-widened A249 road which links the M20
and M2 motorways to Sheppey.
The Sheppey Crossing is not open to pedestrians, bicycles or horses, which continue to use the Kingsferry Bridge. The Sittingbourne
to Sheerness section of railway also uses the Kingsferry Bridge.
It was announced police have borrowed £73,000 from Swale
Council to place an order for an automatic number plate recognition
system (ANPR), which will be installed on both the Sheppey Crossing and the Kingsferry Bridge
by the middle of April 2010.
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
which crosses The Swale
The Swale
The name The Swale refers to the strip of sea separating North Kent from the Isle of Sheppey.- History :The name "Swale" is Old English in origin, and is believed to mean "swirling, rushing river", or "rushing water"....
at a height of 35m (115 ft), linking the Isle of Sheppey
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
with mainland Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. It was opened on July 3, 2006 by Minister for Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
, Stephen Ladyman
Stephen Ladyman
Stephen John Ladyman is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for South Thanet from 1997 until 2010.-Early life:...
and provides an alternative to the old Kingsferry Bridge
Kingsferry Bridge
The Kingsferry Bridge is a combined road and railway vertical-lift bridge connecting the Isle of Sheppey to Kent in the South East England. It was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson, and built by John Howard, with Dorman Long and Sir William Arrol...
for road users.
The need for a new crossing
The pre-existing Kingsferry BridgeKingsferry Bridge
The Kingsferry Bridge is a combined road and railway vertical-lift bridge connecting the Isle of Sheppey to Kent in the South East England. It was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson, and built by John Howard, with Dorman Long and Sir William Arrol...
, in place since 1959, suffers from two major drawbacks. Firstly, it has only one lane in each direction and as traffic to and from the island increased over time it became a bottleneck. Secondly, it is a vertical-lift bridge and needs to be raised regularly to allow marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
traffic to pass under it, leading to lengthy traffic delays.
Prior to its opening it was estimated that 26,000 vehicles a day would use the new crossing.
Construction of the Sheppey Crossing
Capita Symonds
Capita Symonds is part of the Capita Group.Capita Symonds is a large UK multidisciplinary consultancy operating in the building design, civil engineering, environment, management and transport sectors....
, and won the 2007 IStructE Award for Transportation Structures.
It has been built from steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
, with around 10,000 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s of British Steel
British Steel
British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
being used. Construction, which was carried out by Carillion under a Private Finance Initiative
Private Finance Initiative
The private finance initiative is a way of creating "public–private partnerships" by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital...
contract, was made more difficult because many of the bridge's piers had to be built on marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
land.
A jack
Jack (mechanical)
A jack is a mechanical device used to lift heavy loads or apply great forces. Jacks employ a screw thread or hydraulic cylinder to apply very high linear forces.-Mechanical jack:...
ing mechanism was employed to move the sections of roadway into position from each end of the bridge, with the final two sections of deck (piers 7-8 and piers 15-17) lifted into place during November 2005. The bridge project was part of a larger scheme costing £100m to improve the A249 road
A249 road
The A249 is a road in Kent, England, running from Maidstone to Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey. It mainly functions as a link between the M2 and M20 motorways, and for goods vehicle traffic to the port at Sheerness....
between the M2 motorway and the port of Sheerness
Sheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
.
The new crossing measures 21.5m (71 ft) in width, and carries the a section on the now-widened A249 road which links the M20
M20 motorway
The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It runs from the M25 motorway to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is long...
and M2 motorways to Sheppey.
The Sheppey Crossing is not open to pedestrians, bicycles or horses, which continue to use the Kingsferry Bridge. The Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne is an industrial town about eight miles east of Gillingham in England, beside the Roman Watling Street off a creek in the Swale, a channel separating the Isle of Sheppey from mainland Kent...
to Sheerness section of railway also uses the Kingsferry Bridge.
It was announced police have borrowed £73,000 from Swale
Swale
Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Its council is based in Sittingbourne. The borough is named after the narrow channel called The Swale, a channel that separates the mainland of Kent from the Isle of Sheppey, and which occupies the central part of the...
Council to place an order for an automatic number plate recognition
Automatic number plate recognition
Automatic number plate recognition is a mass surveillance method that uses optical character recognition on images to read the license plates on vehicles. They can use existing closed-circuit television or road-rule enforcement cameras, or ones specifically designed for the task...
system (ANPR), which will be installed on both the Sheppey Crossing and the Kingsferry Bridge
Kingsferry Bridge
The Kingsferry Bridge is a combined road and railway vertical-lift bridge connecting the Isle of Sheppey to Kent in the South East England. It was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson, and built by John Howard, with Dorman Long and Sir William Arrol...
by the middle of April 2010.