The Ouse Bridge is a
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
plate girder bridge
A plate girder bridge is a bridge supported by two or more plate girders.
Overview
In a plate girder bridge, the plate girders are typically I-beams made up from separate structural steel plates (rather than rolled as a single cross-section), w ...
that spans
River Ouse between
Goole
Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire.
According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...
and
Howden
Howden () is a market and minster town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, which lies across the Ri ...
in the
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
, England. It carries the
M62 and is situated between junctions 36 and 37. It was built between 1973 and 1976 by
Costain
Costain is a surname of English, Scottish and Manx origin. When originating in Scotland and northern Ireland the surname is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic ''Mac Austain'', meaning "son of ''Austin''". The English surname is a reduced form of '' ...
and was designed by
Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners. The bridge was officially opened to traffic on 24 May 1976 by nine-year-old Martin Brigham.
History
Traffic to and from Hull to the A1 historically went over
Boothferry Bridge
Boothferry Bridge is a crossing over the River Ouse, between the East Riding and West Yorkshire, England, some north-west of Goole. The bridge was opened in 1929, replacing a ferry crossing immediately west of the bridge's location. The Act o ...
, on the
A614, which was a
swing bridge
A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
.
The position of the bridge and the M62 resulted from a study carried out in 1964 by Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners. They would also design the bridge. It is a
haunched girder bridge.
Regional position
The extension of the M18 (from the current M180), the M62, and the first part of (what would become) the M180 (to
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...
only) was announced in Hull in September 1965. At that time, it would be five years before the M62 would cross the
Pennines
The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...
, and the
Humber Bridge would not be given firm funding until the
1966 Kingston upon Hull North by-election
The Kingston upon Hull North by-election of 27 January 1966 was held after the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Henry Solomons on 7 November 1965. The seat was retained with an increased majority by Kevin McNamara of the Labour Party. T ...
in January 1966. The extension of the M180 would also require a similar bridge over the
Trent
Trent may refer to:
Places Italy
* Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom
* Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany
* Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States
* Trent, California, ...
which, like the Ouse Bridge, was the final part of that motorway section to open (in 1979, three years later). The Humber Bridge began construction (on the south-side embankment) in July 1972, and the Ouse Bridge followed only six months later; both were being built at the same time, and the Humber Bridge opened five years after the Ouse Bridge. Costain built the southern approach road from the Humber Bridge to the
A1077 at the same time as the Ouse Bridge, including a 320m viaduct with seven concrete box spans. Both sides of the Humber and Ouse would be linked in February 1977. At the time of opening of the Ouse Bridge, the Humber Bridge was projected to cost £40 million, and to be completed by 1978. The
M18 was projected, at the time, to open by mid-1978, but opened in February 1979.
Design
In the early stages an
immersed tube
An immersed tube (or immersed tunnel) is a kind of undersea tunnel composed of segments, constructed elsewhere and floated to the tunnel site to be sunk into place and then linked together. They are commonly used for road and rail crossings of r ...
tunnel was considered, which was thought to be too expensive. The superstructure was designed by
Redpath Dorman Long and
G Maunsell & Partners. of the River Ouse had to be bridged. The area was in the
Boothferry
Boothferry is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Ouse where the A614 road crosses the river. It is about north-west of Goole.
Boothferry is split between civil parishes; areas ...
district of
Humberside
Humberside () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West ...
. The gradient of the road on the approach to the bridge is 1 in 33.
Construction
![The Ouse Bridge - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/The_Ouse_Bridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_555622.jpg)
The Ouse Bridge Contract for £6.75 million (£ million in ) was awarded in January 1973 to a consortium of Costain Civil Engineering and Redpath Dorman Long.
There were 120 large steel cylinder piles of diameter and long driven into the ground by a
self-elevating platform barge with a
steam hammer
A steam hammer, also called a drop hammer, is an industrial power hammer driven by steam that is used for tasks such as shaping forgings and driving piles. Typically the hammer is attached to a piston that slides within a fixed cylinder, but i ...
. These were carried out by
Raymond International.
The steelwork was fabricated at RDL works in
Teesside
Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Historically a hub for heavy manu ...
. There were steel supply problems. In July 1975 there was a partial collapse of a
military trestle on pier 15.
Opening
It was opened on 24 May 1976 by nine-year-old Martin Brigham, who had been handed the scissors at the last moment by Minister of Transport
John Gilbert, Baron Gilbert
John William Gilbert, Baron Gilbert, (5 April 1927 – 2 June 2013) was a British Labour Party politician.
Early life
Gilbert's father was a civil servant. Baron Gilbert was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, St John's Colleg ...
, who was to have opened it.
[ It was the last section of the main part of the M62 to open, comprising . The M62 had taken 15 years and cost £190 million. The A63 Caves Bypass and M62 Balkholme sections (built by Clugston Construction) had opened on 19 February 1976. The Balkholme to Caves section was the first use on a UK motorway of continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), which has no transverse joints.
]
Repair
In 2022 a partial failure of a joint on the eastbound carriageway was identified after it was discovered that increased vibration from traffic had started to damage the concrete under lane three and a bridge joint, which allows the carriageway to expand and contract with the weather. Temporary bridging plates were installed over the damaged bridge joints as a temporary mitigation measure followed by the critically damaged joints on the eastbound carriageway being replaced by spring 2023.
References
External links
{{commons category, Ouse Bridge (M62)
Motorway Archive
Construction
East Riding bridges
Structurae
Bridges across the River Ouse, Yorkshire
Bridges completed in 1976
Bridges in the East Riding of Yorkshire
Concrete bridges in the United Kingdom
Motorway bridges in England
Plate girder bridges
Road bridges in England
1976 establishments in England
M62 motorway
Goole