Fugro Seacore Ltd was contracted to install 21 nr 3m and 4m diameter reinforced concrete foundation piles up to 35m deep. Just to gain access to the site upstream of the existing KincardineBridge the fly jib on the Demag crane had to be upgraded to lift 95t so that all the legs could be removed to enable Excalibur to pass underneath. The legs were floated up the Forth and the jack-up re-commissioned at the site.
The foundation piles for the bridge were all 3m dia except for 4nr heavy duty 4m diameter ship impact piles either side of the transit channels under the new bridge. Casings were driven through up to 23m of overburden with a vibratory hammer and then progressed, with the assistance of relief drilling, into the highly fractured and weathered bedrock, after which sockets were drilled into the sandstone strata to a maximum depth of 35m below river bed. After placing heavy duty rebar cages weighing up to 60t the piles were filled with tremmie concrete, delivered by pump from the shore along an access gangway spanning the already installed piles.
The new crossing forms a key part of a new 6 km long road scheme that will bypass Kincardine and provide much needed relief to the local road infrastructure, especially if the existing ForthRoadBridge is closed.