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United Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth II Bridge

Project description

The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge is part of the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing, a major road crossing of the River Thames close to London. The crossing forms part of London’s M25 orbital motorway, which almost encircles the city. The bridge was built between 1988 and 1991 to carry all M25 traffic in one direction across the river, enabling both of the existing tunnels to be dedicated to traffic in the other direction. The cable stayed bridge has an average daily use of over 130,000 vehicles. When it opened in 1991, its 450-metre main span was the longest cable-stayed span of any bridge in Europe.

mageba scope

To support the decks of the main cable stayed structure and the approach viaducts on both sides, which together have a length of 2812 m, mageba supplied 219 RESTON POT bearings with vertical load capacities of up to 8150 kN. The RESTON-POT bearing has been one of mageba’s most widely used products over a period of several decades, having proven its value on countless structures all around the world. With a high-quality elastomeric pad at it centre, within the bearing’s pot and supporting its piston, it can accommodate significant rotations about any axis.

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Illustration (exploded view) of a RESTON- POT bearing of the guided sliding type.

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POM seal on the bearing’s elastomeric pad – one of the secrets of RESTON-POT’s success.

Key Data

Products:

RESTON-POT bearings

Installed:

1990

City:

London

Structure:

Cable stayed bridge

Completed:

1991

Length:

2812 m

Main span:

450 m

Function:

Motorway bridge

Crosses:

Thames River

Contractor:

Cleveland Bridge