Watch fascinating timelapse video of demolition of Brampton Bridge on A1

New bridge has replaced it as part of A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon upgrade

Now you see it...now you don’t, contractors tore down the Brampton Bridge over the A1 last weekend.

It represented one of two milestones for the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon road upgrade, with a new bridge opening to traffic just days before the bridge it is replacing was demolished.

The Brampton Road bridge in Grafham, which links Brampton and Grafham in Cambridgeshire and spans the current two-lane A1 dual carriageway, was upgraded to a newer, longer model as part of a £1.5billion major improvement scheme.

The new bridge, which is 50 metres longer than the old one, will need to span both the new, widened A1 and the future A14 – totalling 10 lanes of carriageway at this location – and was officially opened on February 12 by Brampton Parish Council chairman Cllr Simon Jordan and his family.

The project team invited residents from Brampton and Grafham to cross the bridge – the second to be opened on the scheme – for the first time in a variety of vehicles including electric and vintage cars, motorcycles and bicycles.

Mike Evans, Highways England senior stakeholder manager for the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon, said: “The Brampton Road bridge is an important link for communities living across the A1 and A14 just south of Huntingdon and we are delighted that many turned up on Monday to mark the occasion and open the new bridge to traffic with us.

“Now that the new bridge is opened, we can get on with demolishing the old bridge and continue building the new A1 and A14 carriageways at this location and keep to the project’s challenging timetable to open the new A14 to traffic by the end of 2020.”

The old Brampton Road bridge was demolished by excavators positioned on the protected A1 carriageway beneath it, which will break it down mechanically. All the concrete recovered from the old bridge will be crushed and reused on the project.

Highways England is upgrading a 21-mile stretch of the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon to three lanes in each direction including a brand new 17-mile bypass south of Huntingdon, with four lanes in each direction between Bar Hill and Girton.

The project, which includes 34 bridges and main structures, will add additional capacity, boost the local and national economy and cut up to 20 minutes off journeys.

For the latest information about the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, including job and training opportunities, visit the dedicated website.

Video: Highways England