1.

ABSTRACT
The Silver Jubilee Bridge in the UK crosses the River Mersey between Runcorn and Widnes. It was
completed in the early 1960s and is an English Heritage Grade II listed structure. It forms part of the major highway
route in Northwest England and carries over 90,000 vehicles per day on four lanes. The original design carried a single
lane in each direction, plus a single central shared overtaking lane. This was widened to carry two narrow lanes in each
direction during the late 1970s. The central span of the bridge is a 330m long steel arch structure with two 76m side
spans and is the largest of its type in Europe. The deck is reinforced concrete supported on structural steelwork. The
original surfacing was hand placed mastic asphalt. This provided some degree of waterproofing but remained in place for
over 40 years until a new waterproofing and surfacing system was installed in 2005. By this time the bridge deck was
heavily contaminated with chlorides from de-icing salts and the reinforcement was found to be corroding in many areas.
To maintain and extend the functionality of the bridge, avoid major disruptions to this major river crossing over the
Mersey and to preserve the Grade II listed character, it was necessary to identify a durable but sympathetic repair
strategy. This paper will discuss the many options considered and the eventual adoption of a novel and subsequently
award-winning cathodic protection system specifically developed for this application. Keywords: cathodic protection,
grade 2 listed, bridge, corrosion, concrete, steel, repair.
2. INTRODUCTION
The Silver Jubilee Bridge (originally the Runcorn–Widnes Bridge or informally the Runcorn Bridge) crosses
the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Runcorn Gap between Runcorn and Widnes in Halton, England. It is
a through arch bridge with a main arch span of 361 yards (330 m). It was opened in 1961 as a replacement for
the Widnes-Runcorn Transporter Bridge. In 1975–77 the carriageway was widened, after which the bridge was given its
official name in honour of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. It carries the A533 road and a cantilevered footway. The bridge is
recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[1] The bridge was closed to
vehicles for refurbishment upon the opening of the new Mersey Gateway Bridge, but reopened as a toll bridge in
February 2021.

Fig. Schematic representation of Silver Jubilee Bridge.

3. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
The estuary and the distribution of sand and clay surfaces can significantly affect temperature, rainfall,
and wind conditions within a site. In South-West Lancashire/West Cheshire region where the Silver Jubilee Bridge is
located, the climate is characterised as relatively mild and wet in winter and dry in spring and summer. The late summer
and autumn are often warm and damp. In the Runcorn area, the temperature ranges around a mean of 5.5°C, with an
annual rainfall about 726mm (Ling, 1967).
• FUNCTION
The bridge clearly gives an impression of stability. This is provided by the large steel truss arch
spanning over the top of the deck. This steel arch supports the slender deck by means of hanging cables stretching down
on either side.

• PROPORTIONS
The proportions of a bridge are an important factor. There should be a balance between aspects such as masses and voids and
spans and depths as well. On the Silver Jubilee bridge there is a very large steel truss arch spanning over the river. This is
complemented by a very thin deck supported by cables from the arch. Having such a large arch helps people to see that only a
very slender deck is needed, as the arch is the main load bearing part of the structure. The truss arch continues through the deck at
either end of the span, clearly showing how the forces are dissipated into the foundations within the ground. This is one of the
largest steel arch bridges in the world, and the height to length ratio of the arch looks right. Too tall and the arch would look
ridiculously large, too shallow and the horizontal forces in the bridge would be huge, and it would not look comfortable as a
bridge.

• TEXTURE
A smooth finish has been used on the entire steel truss; this is very important in providing texture to the bridge. It enables the
bridge to look sleek, modern, and precise.
 • COLOUR
Colour is very relevant as the entire bridge is painted lime green. It is continuously being painted and takes about 5 years for a
new coat to be applied [4]. The lime green colour makes this bridge really stand out, but also manages to hide certain aspects of
the bridge. The cables that support the deck can almost disappear against strong sunlight, leaving just the large steel arch and
slender deck to be seen. The colour choice for this bridge has helped it to be recognised easily from pictures and helps to
emphasise certain structural elements.

Fig 2. Silver Jubilee Bridge at Night

4. SURROUNDING STRUCTURES
One major problem with this bridge is that it is situated right alongside another bridge, which happens to be a very cheap and
nasty looking box section railway bridge. The designs for the Silver Jubilee Bridge look very impressive; however, this view can
never be achieved in real life due to the proximity of this second bridge. The height of the second bridge also gives the impression
that the Silver Jubilee Bridge has an unnecessarily thick deck when viewed in bad light or from a distance (when it is hard to
distinguish between the two bridges). It can also appear that the two bridges are one bridge, which then looks very strange, due to
the positioning of the pears for the railway bridge, being unsymmetrical to the arch of the Silver Jubilee Bridge.
5. ECONOMIC BENEFITS
470 permanent full time equivalent jobs on site during the construction phase, and 4,640 permanent new jobs because of the
operation of the Mersey Gateway, regeneration activity and inward investment, and £61.9 million a year in Gross Value Added
from the new jobs by 2030. It will also support sustained growth at Liverpool Ports and Liverpool John Lennon Airport and
improve business productivity throughout the Mersey corridor (known as agglomeration impacts).
6. TRANSPORT BENEFITS
Reductions in some journey times of up to 10 minutes in peak periods, increase in journey time reliability, less congestion
resulting in lower carbon emissions, reductions in the cost of accidents of up to £39 million, 80% less traffic using the Silver
Jubilee Bridge, freeing it up for use as a local bridge, increased network resilience and civil contingencies, reductions in
maintenance delays as a result of reduced congestion, and a major strategic new transport route linking the Liverpool city-region
and the north west to the rest of the country.
7. SOCIAL BENEFITS:
Improvements to public transport facilities, improvements to walking and cycling facilities, improved health because of reduced
air pollution, safer new routes for cyclists and pedestrians across and around the river, and more reliable access to emergency
services and the new bridge alongside the Silver Jubilee Bridge more robust emergency civil contingency planning.
8. CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE
It was decided that a new high-level bridge should be constructed upriver from the transport bridge location. Several designs for
the bridge at this location were submitted, including a truss bridge and a suspension bridge. The final design was for a through
arch bridge with a 10-yard single carriageway spanning 361 yards. Construction of the first phase of the bridge started in 1956 by
builders Leonard Fairclough of Adlington, who cleared the site and constructed the foundations. The second phase was the main
and side arches, and this was completed by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough. Leonard Fairclough was sub-contracted to build the
bridge deck, viaduct, and side spans. The skewback piers are concrete on soft sandstone. They are designed to stand 3,000 tonnes
of thrust, which is enough to carry the heaviest traffic. The deck is concrete on steel beams.
9. SUSPENDED CANDILEVER CONSTRUCTION
Cantilever construction is commonly used throughout the world, especially in the construction of steel arch bridges. The main
disadvantage is that it can cause large moments to occur at the base of the construction. The Silver Jubilee Bridge spans too far for
this type of construction and would simply collapse from the huge moments incurred from its own self weight. However, these
can be reduced by using suspended cantilever construction. This method involves using temporary towers and ties, to support the
structure and reduce the hogging moments at the bases. This also has the effect of redistributing stress throughout the members in
a truss, which will be discussed later. Suspended cantilever construction is shown on the Silver Jubilee Bridge.
 Fig. Suspended Cantilever Construction
10. CONSTRUCTION OF THE DECK
As the deck is constructed the load on the arch will increase. It would be best to construct the deck from the centre and work
outwards in both directions simultaneously, as this would load the arch symmetrically from the centre where it is best adapted to
carry loads. Constructing the deck from one side, would lead to the arch being loaded unsymmetrical, and without the weight of
the deck on the other side of the arch, could cause the arch to collapse in on itself. The construction could begin from both sides
simultaneously; however, this could also cause unnecessary stresses at the quarter spans of the arch. It could also lead to
complications when trying to fit the central section of deck. The first section of the bridge would be lifted into place from a barge
on the river below and attached to the cables hanging from the centre of the arch. This could then act as a platform from which to
begin lifting the next sections of the bridge deck, working outwards in both directions. This would ensure that the loading on the
arch remained symmetrical. This can easily be shown by calculating the forces and moments within the arch, once half the deck
has been constructed. For the purpose of this example, it can be assumed that the arch is weightless, and the weight of the half
deck is 2,000 tonnes (20,000kN), and the length of the constructed deck is 165m (half of the total 330m).

Fig.Cassette System installed on deck soffit. Fig. Installed Cassettes

11. STEEL ARCH PROTECTION

The maintenance of the steel arch structure is a continuous task to prevent corrosion and consequent structural failure. The
steelwork needs to be protected from corrosion using a long-life high-performance coating system. The precise nature of the
system used has changed over its life, with both lead-based primers and metal spray having been used at some stage. Current
formulations take advantage of developments in water-based and low solvent formulations and glass flake fillers and promise to
be both long-lived and more environmentally friendly than their predecessors. Hanger cables during inspections in 2002 it was
noted that the hanger cables and the existing protective system had started to deteriorate due to corrosion. Failure of hanger cables
could have serious consequences to the entire structure.

Fig. Hanger cables and Steel arch

12. LOADING
The Silver Jubilee Bridge is subject to many different types of loads, and its design reflects this. In the majority of bridges, the
dead load makes up 30% of the total weight, with the live loading contributing to the other 70%. However, the large steel arch
provides a large amount of self-weight, and so for this bridge dead load makes up around 70%, with the live (traffic) load
providing about 3,000 tonnes, or 30% of the total weight. These loads are transferred through the structure and into the
foundations. Simple analysis techniques can be used to give rough sizing of the components of the bridge.
Fig. Deck construction beginning from one side Fig. Deck construction beginning from the Centre

• OTHER LOAD EFFECT

There are many other types of loading that would also be considered when designing the Silver Jubilee Bridge, due to its location
and usage.
• SHRINKAGE AND CREEP
The deck on the bridge is constructed from concrete, which can shrink and creep over time, producing additional stresses and
strains within the structure.
• STRESS RELAXATION OF STEEL CABLES
Over time steel cables under tension will lengthen and reduce the stress upon them. This would seriously affect the deflections in
the deck under loading and could become a serviceability issue over time.
• RESIDUAL STRESSES IN THE STEEL
Residual stresses could easily occur in the truss members themselves, formed in production. They could form when the bridge is
being constructed, at connection points. In the long run, they can lead to localized failure, and may require repair or replacement
of certain parts of the bridge.
• SETTLEMENT OF SUPPORTS
The main steel arch on this bridge reaches the ground at either side of the river, with the foundations going deep into the ground to
cope with the forces transferred to them. The total weight of the bridge without live loading is over 10,000 tons, which nearly all
travels down through two foundations. This load is very large and consolidation of the soil after construction is almost guaranteed.
Problems only really arise when there is a difference in settlement between the two sides, which leads to a change in how loads
are transferred and can also induce additional stresses. Before construction began, there would have been extensive geological
surveys carried out, in order to calculate soil settlements, and account for them in the design.
• STREAM FLOW AND SCOUR FROM THE RIVER MERSEY
The arch goes down into large piers situated near the banks of the river, which then go down into large foundations. These
foundations and concrete piers will be subject to loads from the river. The streamflow will induce a horizontal load on the piers.
This has been reduced by making the design of the piers a more streamline shape.
• SKIDDING AND IMPACT LOADING
The design will include previsions for skidding of vehicles, which can produce lateral loads on the bridge deck, and also impact
loads on parapets and structural members. These loads will often govern parapet design, and on the Silver Jubilee Bridge
additional members jut out from the sides of the bridge to offer lateral support to the parapets.
• CONCLUSIONS
The restrictions imposed by the listing of the Silver Jubilee Bridge have proved to be an effective
incentive in development of innovative and sympathetic remediation techniques. The low levels of intrusion typically
associated with such techniques often means they have also offered sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives
to conventional repair. This has been recognised by the award of several national and international prizes for
sustainability and longevity. The lessons and techniques developed to protect and extend the life of the Silver Jubilee
Bridge have been transferred to other structures, the majority of which were not listed or considered historically
important but have benefited from the improved remediation technology.

REFRENCES

1. Rene Brueckner, Paul LambertRenovation (2011) of the deck of a major listed bridge structure
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271422902_Renovation_of_the_deck_of_a_major_listed_bridge_structure

2. Knights, S. (2007) Silver Jubilee Bridge for The Bridge Engineering 2 Conference. University of Bath. Vol.1, page.1-10.
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1064.9177&rep=rep1&type=pdf

3. Wikipedia (2007) Silver Jubilee Bridge available from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Jubilee_Bridge

4. Mersey Gateway (2013) The Mersey Gateway Project. https://merseygateway.co.uk/wp-

content/uploads/2011/07/Mersey-Gateway-Project-information-leaflet-July-2013.pdf