Beam lift for Badminton Bridge near Bristol

Between 3,000 and 4,000 vehicles uses the Badminton Bridge section of the M4 motorway, close to Bristol, England, every hour during peak weekend periods, said National Highways.

National Highways will close a section of the main motorway leading west of London for a beam lift on the new A432 Badminton Road Bridge.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 vehicles uses this section of the M4 motorway, close to Bristol, every hour during peak weekend periods, said National Highways, the wholly government-owned company responsible for modernising, maintaining and operating England’s motorways and major A roads.

The M4 will be closed in both directions for two days starting October 10. The closure marks a key milestone for the scheme, said National Highways. The eight steel beams will be lifted into place across the motorway, marking the last full weekend closure of the M4 for this scheme and the final major stage of reconstruction.

Once the beams have been lifted into place, the remainder of the new bridge will be constructed with minimal disruption to the motorway below and will be open to the public in early 2026.

The new bridge – 46.5m in length and 20m wide – will span eight lanes of motorway but will be slightly wider. This is to ensure the road lanes and pavements are wide enough to meet today’s safety standards. The barriers along the sides are higher to keep people walking and cycling safer, explained Sean Walsh, route manager for National Highways.

“The beam lift is a huge milestone in the construction of the new bridge, but we appreciate that any road closures can be frustrating for people,” said Walsh. “We need to fully close the M4 because we’ll be lifting eight 80-tonne steel beams into place, and it’s vital that we keep those doing the work and motorists safe.

The old Badminton Road Bridge, opened in 1966, was a concrete post-tensioned structure. In July 2023, a planned detailed structural investigation revealed problems on the underside of the bridge, which meant it had to be closed to traffic. Having considered the options, demolishing and replacing the existing structure was the quickest and most economical approach to restoring this important local link.