Port Creek - PWAY Scaffold

The Portsea Creek rail bridge serves as the sole rail connection between Portsea Island and the city of Portsmouth. Originally constructed as a drawbridge in 1909, it has operated as a fixed bridge since 1920. The bridge was now scheduled for some important replacement works.

During the Network Rail upgrade works at Portcreek Junction, Rebel Marine supplied pontoon sections across Portsea Creek beneath the Portsea Creek rail bridge. This installation facilitated the placement of a scaffold work deck, built by Alltask, under the bridge, ensuring a safe environment for the contractor SRS as they installed 390 metres of new track, 450 metres of conductor rail, and replaced two sets of points throughout Portcreek Junction.

Access to the creek was only possible via a pedestrian tunnel under the M27. We used one of our Hoeflonelectric tracked carriers to transport enough modular pontoon for a 5x6 metre, fully edge-protected work platform. We also helped move all the necessary scaffold gear to the creek.

After being loaded with scaffolding, the pontoon was positioned beneath the bridge using a 5-metre workboat that was transported by sea. The spud legs were used to secure it in place. As the scaffolding deck advanced, the location of the pontoon was moved as necessary, and its configuration was eventually modified to fit into the smaller spans.

When work on the top side of the bridge was finished, the scaffold was dismantled by reversing the initial installation process.

The pontoon was subsequently utilized by contractors SRS to access areas beneath and alongside the bridge in order to install bolted-through fixings for the new wheel timbers, thereby completing this phase of the project.