Two New Footbridges Delivered for North Somerset Council – Clevedon & Yatton

We’re pleased to report the completion of a two-site footbridge replacement scheme for North Somerset Council, delivering new pedestrian crossings at St Andrew’s Drive in Clevedon and at Pilhay over the Congresbury Yeo in Yatton.

Both schemes replaced ageing, substandard timber footbridges that had reached the end of their serviceable life. As main contractor, EJ McGrath took the works from design through to handover — demolition, new foundations, and the supply and installation of two new fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) bridges — all delivered to a tight eight-week programme.

The brief

North Somerset Council needed two failing timber structures replaced with modern, low-maintenance crossings designed to current standards. The new bridges — 9.0m at St Andrew’s Drive and 14.0m at Pilhay, each a minimum 1.5m wide — were specified in FRP/GRP and designed to the relevant Eurocode loadings, with our structural design issued as an Approval in Principle (AIP) for the project manager’s sign-off ahead of manufacture.

Choosing FRP over traditional timber or steel made sense on both sites. The material is light, so it can be lifted and placed with smaller plant and lighter foundations; it doesn’t rot or corrode, which matters over a live watercourse; and it needs far less maintenance across its design life — a sensible long-term call for a local authority asset.

What we delivered

Our self-delivered package across both sites included:

• Structural design of the new FRP bridges, issued as an AIP for approval
• Controlled demolition of the existing timber footbridge and masonry abutments at Pilhay, with compliant disposal
• New reinforced concrete pad and bankseat foundations, plus ramped approaches on both banks
• Supply and installation of the new FRP footbridges
• Temporary works — support systems, access platforms and scaffolding to allow safe working over the river
• Traffic management to Chapter 8 standards, with approved TM plans
• New timber safety fencing to the approaches at Pilhay
• Full reinstatement of all excavated and affected areas, including the site access paths

The challenges

The Pilhay crossing was the more demanding of the two. Working directly over the Congresbury Yeo meant the river had to be protected throughout — temporary support and access designed around the watercourse, with pollution-control measures in place during demolition and concreting. Site access was tightly constrained and worked to an agreed access plan, so plant, materials and the new bridge unit all had to be sequenced carefully to keep the works moving without disturbing the surroundings.

At both sites, the priority was a safe, clean operation that gave the council a durable asset and restored public access quickly, with minimal disruption to residents and path users.

The outcome

Two new, structurally compliant FRP footbridges, delivered start to finish — demolition, foundations and installation — within the programme. Both crossings are now back open for the communities in Clevedon and Yatton, with a low-maintenance design built to give decades of reliable service.

It’s another scheme delivered directly for North Somerset Council, a client we’ve worked with repeatedly across the district — and a good example of the kind of complex, access-constrained civils work our own teams are set up to self-deliver.