River Axe bridge removal marks significant milestone in the Mendip Hills
A 40-metre, 90-tonne bridge over the River Axe near Loxton has been removed as part of the Hinkley Connection Project reinstatement works.
Working in collaboration with Bath Demolition, the dismantled bridge will be given a new lease of life. It is being repurposed for other projects to reduce environmental impact and ensure that materials are not wasted.
The bridge was installed over the River Axe in January 2020. It was the first full-sized model of a prefabricated, modular truss-designed bridge – also known as the Callendar-Hamilton bridge system - to be used in the UK for several decades. The bridge played a pivotal role in the installation of 8.5 kilometres of 400,000-volt underground cable through the Mendip Hills National Landscape and the removal of existing pylons in the area, leaving this part of the Mendip Hills pylon-free for the first time in 90 years.
As part of this work, a cable sealing end structure was built next to the M5, where the underground cables connect to the new section of T-pylons which run between Loxton and Bridgwater and which were energised along with the underground cables and Sandford substation in March 2023, becoming part of the UK electricity transmission network.
Following energisation, work has been ongoing on this section of the route to remove the temporary haul roads, bridges, and culverts over smaller water crossings that were used during construction works.
Ryan Hatcher, Senior Project Manager for National Grid said:
The removal of this largest temporary bridge on the project is a really exciting visual marker of our reinstatement works to date and progress towards completion of the Hinkley Connection Project, which will bring low carbon energy to 6 million homes and businesses across the UK.
We strive to be good neighbours. As well as reinstating the land in this area we have been working closely with a number of local charities and groups. We’re proud to have supported both the Mendip Hills National Landscape Team with its Counting on Mendips initiative and Loxton’s Frankie Howerd Trust by funding its community minibus – just two of over 100 organisations to have benefited from our community grant programme to date.
For further information on the next stages of project, please see here: Hinkley Connection ProjectHinkley Connection Project.
