Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company

Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd was a bridge building and structural engineering company based in Darlington, England. It has been involved in many major projects including the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe, the Tees Transporter Bridge and the Forth Road and Humber suspension bridges in the UK, Hong Kong's Tsing Ma Bridge, and London's Wembley Stadium. Backed by a Saudi Arabian investor since 2000, Cleveland Bridge went into administration in July 2021 and, owing £21m and without a buyer, closed in September 2021.

Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd
TypePrivate company
IndustryLarge scale steel structural engineering
Founded1877
DefunctSeptember 2021 (September 2021)
HeadquartersDarlington, England
Key people
Chris Droogan (Managing Director)
ProductsBridges, Structures, Engineering, Manufacturing, Construction
OwnerAl Rushaid Investment Group
Websitewww.clevelandbridge.com

History

Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was founded in 1877 as a fabrication business. In 1967 the company was acquired by The Cementation Company[1] which was bought by Trafalgar House in 1970.[2]

A works was established in Dubai in 1976, and a new engineering works opened in Darlington in 1982.[2]

In 1990 the company was merged with Redpath Dorman Long which had been acquired by Trafalgar House in 1982 from the Dorman Long group, forming Cleveland Structural Engineering. The company was renamed Kvaerner Cleveland Bridge following the acquisition of Trafalgar House by Kværner in 1996.[2]

In mid 2000 the company became an independent entity through a £8.3million ($12.3million) management buyout; the management also acquired the company's Dubai subsidiary.[3][4]

Victoria Falls Bridge

In late 2000 the Al Rushaid Group acquired a 50% share of the company,[5] raising the shareholding to 88.5% in September 2002.[6][7]

In 2002 the company won a £60 million contract for steelwork for the new Wembley Stadium.[6] A contractual dispute between Cleveland Bridge, and its subcontractor, Hollandia, over staff led to Cleveland Bridge exiting the project in 2004, resulting in litigation between Cleveland Bridge and the main contractor Multiplex. The dispute led to delays in the completion of the Wembley project.[8] Additionally an industrial dispute between workers transferred from Cleveland Bridge to Hollandia employment on the site led to the sacking of 200 workers, and picketing of the site.[9][10]

Administration and closure

In July 2021, Cleveland Bridge sought further funding from the Al Rushaid Group and warned 220 staff of potential redundancies. It was reported to be on the brink of administration after a major Sri Lankan bridge building programme was put on hold.[11][12] Al Rushaid Group decided not to put any more money into the business, administrator FRP was appointed, and the business was put up for sale.[13][14] Pending a sale of the company, the administrators planned a limited resumption of production at the Darlington factory in early August 2021,[15] while 53 workers were made redundant;[16] around 25 staff were assisting administrator FRP; 128 staff were furloughed under the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme pending the intended restart of production.[17]

However, FRP was unable to find a buyer for the business and on 10 September announced that Cleveland Bridge would be wound down over a two-week period before closing with the loss of 133 jobs.[18] FRP said the business owed £21.5m to 226 unsecured creditors,[19] and that a further £12m had been required to fund the business to the end of 2021.[20] An auction of the company's equipment and assets was scheduled for November 2021.[21]

Bridge building

List of bridges constructed

The following is a list of some of the bridges built by Cleveland Bridge: it is not fully comprehensive.

BridgeLocationYearTotal lengthNotesImageRef
ftm
Ramsey Harbour Swing Bridge Ramsey, Isle of Man 1892 420 130
[22]
Victoria Falls Bridge Zimbabwe 1905 650 200
[23]
Waibaidu Bridge (Garden Bridge) Shanghai, China 1906 344 105
[24]
King Edward VII Bridge Newcastle, England 1906 1,151 351
[25]
Blue Nile Road and Railway Bridge Sudan 1909 1,837 560 [26]
Victoria Bridge Hamilton, New Zealand 1910 500 150
[27]
Tees Transporter Bridge Middlesbrough 1911 851 259
[28]
Goz Abu Goma Bridge Sudan 1911 1,759 536
[29]
Trent Bridge, Nottingham Nottingham 1926 300 91 Widening of the original bridge
[30]
Chiswick Bridge London, England 1933 606 185
[31]
Verrugas Bridge Peru 1936 574 175
[32]
Howrah Bridge India 1942 2,313 705
[33]
Spit Bridge Middle Harbour, Sydney, Australia 1958 745 227
[34]
Auckland Harbour Bridge Auckland, New Zealand 1959 3,350 1,020
[35]
Tamar Bridge England 1959 1,099 335
[36]
Forth Road Bridge Scotland 1964 8,241 2,512 Part of the ACD Consortium
[37]
Severn Bridge Severn Estuary, Wales/England 1966 5,249 1,600 Part of the ABB Consortium
[38]
Wye Bridge Severn Estuary, Wales/England 1968 1,340 410
[38]
Bosphorus Bridge Turkey 1973 1,560 480
[39]
Rio–Niterói Bridge Rio, Brazil 1974 43,602 13,290
[40]
Ballachulish Bridge Scotland 1974 964 294
[41]
Humber Bridge Hessle, England 1981 7,300 2,200
[42]
Kessock Bridge A9 Road, Inverness 1982 3,465 1,056
[43]
Queen Elizabeth II Bridge A282 Road, London 1991 9,423 2,872
[44]
Tsing Ma Bridge Hong Kong 1997 4,518 1,377
[45]
Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge Jiangsu Province, China. 1999 4,544 1,385
[46]
New Carquinez Bridge San Francisco, USA. 2003 3,465 1,056
[47]
Rio–Antirrio Bridge Gulf of Corinth, Greece. 2004 9,450 2,880
[48]
Wembley Stadium Arch London, England 2005 1,033 315
[49]
Infinity Bridge Stockton on Tees, England 2009 787 240
[50]
Twin Sails Bridge Poole, England 2012 456 139
[51]

References
  1. O'Driscoll, Dick. 100 Years of Cementation (PDF). Skanska. p. 45.
  2. History, Cleveland Bridge Ltd, archived from the original on 31 January 2009
  3. "Project boost aids Cleveland Bridge MBO", nce.org.uk, 8 June 2000
  4. Cleveland Bridge buy-out, bridgeweb.com, 5 June 2000
  5. Al Rushaid Investment buys 50% share in Cleveland, bridgeweb.com, 22 September 2000
  6. Buying into Success - Al Rushaid Investment Group Increases Stake in Cleveland Bridge Group, clevelandbridge.com, September 2002, archived from the original on 21 November 2003
  7. Cleveland Group Receives Substantial Investment from Al Rushaid, clevelandbridge.com, 21 September 2000, archived from the original on 27 September 2007
  8. Sources:
  9. "Sacked workers in Wembley protest", BBC News, 1 September 2004
  10. "Picket over sacked Wembley staff", BBC News, 23 August 2004
  11. Morby, Aaron (22 July 2021). "Cleveland Bridge heads for administration". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  12. "Cleveland Bridge on brink of collapse". The Construction Index. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  13. Morby, Aaron (22 July 2021). "Administrator puts Cleveland Bridge up for sale". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  14. "'Flagbearer' Cleveland Bridge put up for sale". The Construction Index. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  15. Morby, Aaron (1 August 2021). "Cleveland Bridge administrators to resume production". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  16. Thomas-Alexander, Tiya. "Cleveland Bridge staff angry as a quarter are made redundant". Construction News. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  17. Morby, Aaron (4 August 2021). "53 jobs axed at Cleveland Bridge". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  18. Morby, Aaron (10 September 2021). "Cleveland Bridge to close as hunt for buyer fails". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  19. "Lifters and shifters left stranded by Cleveland Bridge". The Construction Index. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  20. Morby, Aaron (15 September 2021). "Cleveland Bridge UK collapsed owing over £21m". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  21. Kennedy, Poppy (4 October 2021). "Cleveland Bridge equipment and assets to be auctioned off as iconic company disappears into history". Teesside Live. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  22. "Ramsey Harbour Swing Bridge". Engineering Timelines. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  23. Victoria Falls Bridge at Structurae
  24. "A-Z List of Bridges Built by the Cleveland Bridge Company". Newcastle University. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  25. Morton, David (7 July 2016). "The Tyne's King Edward VII railway bridge at 110: A brief history in 14 historic facts". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle upon Tyne: Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  26. "Blue Nile Road and Railway Bridge". Structurae database.
  27. "Victoria Bridge". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  28. "Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge". Engineering Timelines. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  29. The Development of the Sudan. The Engineer. 19 March 2015. p. 271.
  30. Labrum, E. A. (1993). Civil engineering heritage, eastern and central England. Thomas Telford. ISBN 978-0727719706.
  31. Cookson, Brian (2006), Crossing the River, Edinburgh: Mainstream, p. 66, ISBN 1-84018-976-2, OCLC 63400905
  32. "Centenary of the Opening of Desamparados Station" (PDF). Travel Centre. p. 3. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  33. Ghoshal, Amitabha (1 August 2020). "Howrah Bridge: icon of a 330-year-old city in India – part I: history, planning and design". Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering History and Heritage. Engineering History and Heritage. 173 (3): 117–128. doi:10.1680/jenhh.19.00017. S2CID 203540649. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  34. "Model of Spit Bridge in Sydney". Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  35. Engineering to 1990. Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, Engineering Publications Co. p. 11.
  36. Brown, A.J. (2007). The Tamar Bridge (PDF) (Report). University of Bath. p. 3.
  37. "Forth Road Bridge". The Three Bridges. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  38. "M4 River Severn Crossings". The Motorway Archive. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  39. "The First Necklace of the Bosphorus '15 July Martyrs Bridge'". Railly News. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  40. "Heritage project reveals unique Rio bridge pics". Teesside University. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  41. "Ballachulish Bridge". Canmore. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  42. "Cleveland Bridge wins major contract to refurbish Humber Bridge". Gazette Live. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  43. "Kessock Bridge opens in 1982". Inverness Courier. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  44. "Queen Elizabeth II Bridge". Engineering Timelines. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  45. Wallis, Keith (25 October 1994). "Tsing Ma milestone reached". South China Morning Post. p. 4.
  46. "Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge". Structurae. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  47. "Cleveland Bridge nets US suspension bridge". New Civil Engineer. 20 January 2000. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  48. "Rion-Antirion Bridge". Structurae. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  49. McAteer, Owen (30 September 2008). "Both sides claim victory as judge rules on Wembley row". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  50. "Cleveland Bridge: The British bridges built by innovation". Scottish Construction Now. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  51. "Echo visits North East workers making our bridge". Bournemouth Echo. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
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