Beam me up! - First M25 J10 bridge takes shape

Watch our timelapse footage of the beam lift here!

Nine pre-cast concrete beams were lifted into position across Stratford Brook near Ripley in Surrey.

While it may be the smallest bridge out of the scheme’s eight structures, each of its beams weighs an impressive 45 tonnes – that’s roughly six adult elephants per beam, or a total of eight adult whales!

The bridge over Stratford Brook will be one of two new bridges on a brand-new route for drivers, walkers, cyclists, and horse riders from Ockham Park roundabout towards Wisley. The other will go over the A3 and link up with Wisley Lane.

Jonathan Wade, senior project manager for the scheme said:

“We’ve successfully lifted all nine beams into place – quite a feat! We're glad it all went well ahead of the next beam lift for Wisley Lane bridge, due at the end of September.”

What about the other six bridges?

At junction 10 itself, we’re continuing to build the beam supports, known as abutments, for two bridges which will form a wider roundabout over the M25. These bridges are built using the same pre-cast concrete method as the ones at Wisley Lane and Stratford Brook and will help ease congestion and improve the flow of traffic at one of the country’s busiest junctions.

Four more bridges will connect all sides of the junction and improve accessibility for walkers, cyclists, and horse riders crossing the A3 and M25.

Arguably the star of the show will be the Cockcrow bridge – the UK’s first ever heathland bridge. Spanning an impressive 30 metres in width and 68 metres in length, it will connect Ockham and Wisley commons for the first time and provide a safe, natural corridor for local wildlife.

A four-metre track will weave across the bridge, laid with heather and other heathland shrubs for pedestrians, cyclists and horse-riders to enjoy. It will also help local creatures, such as sand lizards, silver studded butterflies and heath tiger beetles, to spread across the local area and encourage them to grow in numbers.

Work is due to start on Cockcrow bridge in 2024.

For more information about our scheme and to sign up for updates visit
https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/south-east/m25-junction-10/