The original ‘mail shot’ was sent by CRL to Hampshire County Council in December 1965 and requested an opportunity to ‘submit a firm price’ for restoration work. It resulted in some intermediary repairs over the ensuing years, but the proposal finally bore fruit in April 2003 when the company began an all-embracing renovation of the bridge’s structural elements. The eight-month £435,000 contract extended to concrete repair, the installation of corrosion control systems, the application of composite strengthening wrap and of anti-carbonation coatings.

Bursledon Bridge, built during the 1930s, carries the A27 between Southampton and Portsmouth and traverses the Hamble River, which is renowned in sailing and yachting circles. The structure is directly adjacent the Jolly Sailor pub, made famous a few years ago by the TV series ‘Howards Way’. The busy river carries many luxury cabin cruisers, yachts and other craft to and from the Solent and in order to protect the structure from possible impact damage etc, part of the contract included the employment of a unique temporary pier protection system. Additionally, specialist equipment was employed to access the central span over the river and to minimise inconvenience to marine traffic.

In line with Environmental Agency requirements, CRL totally enclosed and sealed the access scaffolding to retain debris and foreign matter, before employing hydro demolition to cut out defective concrete. Corroded steel reinforcement was cleaned and prepared prior to the installation of Fosroc’s Galvashield CC electrochemical corrosion control system to selected areas and re-profiling of the concrete spans with Fosroc’s Renderoc dry spray concrete. Once reinstated, Sika 903 corrosion inhibitor was applied to the entire underside of the structure and composite strengthening of various columns was achieved by the installation of Sika Ltd’s carbon fibre mesh wrap, before the entire structure was finally treated with Sika 550W Elastic, anti carbonation coating.