After a month’s worth of rain fell in just two hours, Cogden Beck bridge was completely destroyed by boulders and debris washed down in the early August floods. Heavy vehicles firm Collett provided crane vehicles for the operation, delivering four giant steel tubes to the site in the Yorkshire Dales – which are being used to help construct a temporary bridge.
The tubes were loaded on Mercedes-Benz Actros 8×4 vehicles, which come complete with 80-tonne and 80-metre cranes, and transported 90 miles from Cleveland Steel & Tubes Depot to the remote delivery site in Grinton in the Yorkshire Dales.
Crane hire isn’t generally an option in such situations, given the remoteness of the site and the restricted space, so the crane vehicles provided “the ideal cost effective solution”, says the firm. Featuring five boom extensions and a maximum lifting capacity of 23 Tonnes at 2.75 metres, the crane vehicles allowed those involved in the operation to deliver each of the four 14-tonne tube sections directly to the river bed.
Once in place the tubes will be used to divert the waterway, allowing for the construction of a temporary bridge and restoring access for residents and tourist, with the construction of a traditional Dales masonry bridge scheduled for later in the year. The temporary structure will also allow the route to be utilised for the upcoming UCI World Championships in September when the best cyclists of the world travel to Yorkshire to compete, the first time that Britain has hosted Championships since 1982.
