Artist impression of the scheme after 15 years

New River Bridge Improvement Scheme Project Newsletter September 2020 Road,

The Scheme The weather won’t stop us County Council is progressing This month we have made good use of the with plans to build a new access road to unseasonal weather and achieved completion replace the existing Essex Road (between on a number of weather-dependent items A1170 Dinant Link Road roundabout and including: Geddings Road). • The re-diversion of Woollens Brook which The New River Bridge will improve access is now flowing through a bespoke culvert and safety for vehicles, cyclists and which will be planted and seeded to pedestrians coming in and out of Hoddesdon encourage biodiversity. Business Park. Improving conditions for sustainable modes of travel such as walking • The construction of culverts, sealing of and cycling is a key objective of the County gaps and waterproofing the top surface. Council’s Local Transport Plan 2018-2031. This will stop water penetrating the concrete, and means less maintenance will The Business Park provides important local be required in the future. jobs and plays a significant role in the wider Hertfordshire economy. • Waterproofing of the bridge deck which is now ready for tarmac. Construction Timeline • Enabling works – September 2019 - January 2020 • Start of Construction – January 2020 • Overnight traffic lights, Essex Road – May-July 2020 • Essex Road closed – July 2020 & Feb 2021

• Completion – Spring 2021 The bridge deck Brickwork made easy Construction of the approach walls is well underway. These walls (pictured right) will retain the sides of the new elevated road. The walls are made from pre-cast concrete panels and straps called Reinforced Earth (also called RECo Walls). The RECo system is high strength reinforced concrete facing panels, tensioned by multiple high strength polyethylene straps embedded into a high strength recycled stone fill material. Precast concrete panels and straps called ‘Reinforced Earth’ make up the structure The structure has been designed with a brickwork pattern that matches the adjacent Pumping Station

Victorian Heritage You may remember the drawing below from last month’s feature ‘The History of the New River Part 2’ which shows the Victorian Pumping Station. The pre-cast concrete panels, although made from concrete, have been made to replicate brickwork to match the nearby Station. The Reco Wall is starting to take shape. You can see the Victorian Pumping Station in the background to the left-hand side.

The ‘brickwork’ was formed by building a large brickwork panel on the ground in Germany, using bricks and mortar matching the pump house. A rubber mould was then made of the brickwork panel in which to pour concrete to create the pre-cast concrete panels.

The pumping house and filter beds in 1856. The filter beds were installed to cleanse water and prevent #Didyouknow further outbreaks of cholera (Source: London The New River is 45km long and leads Illustrated News) all the way to Islington, London Investing in tomorrow’s engineers Recently we welcomed work experience student, William Atkins from The School on site with support of the Hertfordshire LEP’s Enterprise Adviser Network. Here’s a summary of William’s experience, in his own words:

“Hi, my name is William Atkins, I am a second “There was clearly a good relationship between all year A level student at The Broxbourne those on site irrespective of their roles or who they School. Towards the end of the last term I were employed by.” Work experience Will reflects on our fab team – what a lovely bunch! attended a webinar on Engineering, on the webinar was Jon Miller from Osborne In pictures: Construction and along with Gareth Dace the work on the bridge deck Careers Hub Lead, they were able to arrange a week’s work experience for me at the Hoddesdon New River site. I really enjoyed the week, whilst there I shadowed a civil engineer where I was taught how to carry out land surveying. I also learnt about site management and the different stages of the project. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, there was a clearly good relationship between all those on the site irrespective of their roles or who they were employed by. I thoroughly enjoyed the week Building up the embankment to meet the level of the bridge deck and felt comfortable and engaged whilst there and it has reinforced my belief that this is the right career choice for myself.” Louise Reynard, Director of Sixth Form at The Broxbourne School had some encouraging words for both William and the team: “Given the current climate, this was an incredible opportunity, and I am very grateful that Jon and his team were able to support Will and his future ambitions.“ It’s great to hear that William’s time on site Ready for the rain; essential waterproofing to the has made him even more enthusiastic to bridge deck and culverts is now complete. pursue a career in civil engineering. We wish him every success! Subscribe Now! Our monthly e-bulletin provides visual updates and key snippets of information on the progress of the New River Bridge Improvement Scheme. To get your easy to digest update Remember you can now check out amazing straight to your inbox, simply subscribe drone footage of the New River Bridge’s by visiting: progress on our YouTube Channel www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/updateme Please share these details with friends, family, colleagues and neighbours.

Want to know more? You can find out more about the project by visiting our dedicated website: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/newriverbridge

You can follow us on Twitter: @Herts_Highways

Or on Facebook: Fantastic aerial footage over the site www.facebook.com/HertsHighways

Subscribe for email updates: What is happening in October? www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/updateme You can now watch our progress on • Building of the Reco Units (Reinforced site with our latest drone footage. Earth panel system) is underway and will Search ‘New River Bridge continue throughout next month. Hertfordshire’ on YouTube Associated groundworks will also begin. Contact Us • We are excited to welcome Chris Ripley If you have any questions, please email who will be joining us on site as a new [email protected] or Graduate Apprentice from our design call 0300 123 4047. partner, WSP.