Clyde Crossing swing bridge - Hollandia

Clyde Crossing swing bridge

The Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew Riverside swing bridge is an impressive two-wing bridge over the Clyde River. This new double swing bridge will connect the north and south banks of the river between the towns of Renfrew, Clydebank and Yoker, about 8 km west of Glasgow city center. Designed for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, the bridge ensures safe passage for both commercial and recreational sailing along the river. The design proudly reflects the maritime heritage of the Clyde. When opening and closing, the vertical pylons rotate, resembling the twisting motion of cranes on the Clyde.

Our scope
In this project, Hollandia Infra is responsible for the southern bridge section, while Smulders Iemants in Belgium produces the northern bridge section. The southern bridge section alone measures 90m x 18m x 38m and weighs 1,600 tons.

Lifting pylons
In recent months we have been working hard to design, produce and preserve the large sections for the southern bridge of Clyde Crossing. In October 2023, the bridge’s iconic pylons and front span were placed, revealing the contours of the bridge. With this, the project reached a new stage of fully assembling the bridge at the wharf.

Rotation
On Saturday, April 6, the bridge was turned 270 degrees so that it was parallel to the Hollandsche IJssel River. This rotation operation was performed carefully and in a controlled manner by Sarens using 2 SPMT trucks.

Load-out
On Wednesday, April 10, the bridge was attached with extreme precision to six specially installed lifting points and maneuvered by three Matadors from Bonn & Mees and positioned on the pontoon. Upon completion of the final work on the pontoon, the bridge is ready for transport to its final destination in Scotland.

Transport towards Scotland
On Wednesday, April 17, the southern section of the Clyde Crossing swing bridge left our yard for its final destination in Glasgow. Here begins the first part of the journey through the heart of Rotterdam to the sea. Now we have to wait for the bridge to arrive in Scotland so that our colleagues on site can continue assembling the first part of the Clyde Crossing swing bridge.