Farrans has been appointed to construct the Gull Wing, Lowestoft’s third crossing over Lake Lothing, by Suffolk County Council.
Client
Suffolk County Council
The Project
Construction work on this project began in spring 2021. The Gull Wing bridge will offer in excess of 50 employment and training opportunities for the local area through ourselves and our supply chain to leave a lasting legacy within Suffolk.
The final section of the Gull Wing Bridge in Lowestoft was installed in March 2024 and you can watch how it happened in the video below.
The bascule span is 39.5m long, 22m wide and 35m tall and will weigh approx. 1120 tonnes when positioned. This is made up of 750 tonnes of permanent structural steelwork and an additional 370 tonnes of temporary ballast to ensure the bridge stability during installation.
An additional counterweight of heavyweight concrete will be placed within the J-beams during the installation and commissioning phase of approx. 380 tonnes resulting in the total weight of the bridge during operation being approx. 1100 tonnes.
The bridge will sit clear of the highest tide by 12m, meaning that the tips of the J-beams will usually be well over 50m above the sea below. When the bridge is rolled back in the open position, the end of the bridge span that carries the road will be over 60m above the tide below. The completed bascule bridge will be the largest rolling bascule bridge in the world lifted using hydraulic cylinders.
Services & Expertise
Farrans has significant experience with large scale infrastructure projects most recently including; Herring Bridge in Great Yarmouth, West Cumbria Water Supply Pipeline, Edinburgh Trams to Newhaven, M80 Steps to Haggs and Northern Spire Bridge. Farrans established a permanent office in the East of England in 1949. We have successfully completed in excess of 250 projects in the region over the last three decades through our building and civil engineering divisions, such as Abberton pipeline for Essex and Suffolk Water.