Kesh Footbridge has been reopened after FP McCann successfully completed construction of a new retaining wall and associated in-river works in Kesh.

At nearly 8m tall, FP McCann and subcontractor, Milligan Bros, were presented with a very challenging task of constructing the wall adjacent to the often unpredictable Kesh River coupled with a very constricted site that was also adjacent to private property with the only access to the site via the congested A35 at the bridge.

Initial works involved demolition of the existing stone clad reinforced concrete wall as well as demolition of old masonry river wall and existing sheds. The challenging ground conditions were made even more difficult with the existing varying rock bed forcing a change to the design of the temporary works design.

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VP Groundforce designed a triple braced sheet pile cofferdam with a top-down construction sequence deployed to allow a formation depth approximately 2m below the existing river bed level of the Kesh River.

With inclement weather during the summer of 2023, the site was met with numerous flood events adding to the precarious conditions being faced on site. To mitigate against further weather depending masonry works, the river face of the wall was constructed using a stone clad pattern liner within the formwork.

All concrete for the works was supplied from our Lisnaskea depot who helped with the solution of using steel fibre reinforced underwater concrete when faced with incoming water ingress during infill concreting operations where dewatering operations were not viable.

FP McCann's Ennis stone was used to complement the internal face of the retaining walls as well as tying into the existing masonry walls. FP McCann's primary rock armour was also used within the river as scour protection to the existing masonry walls. Surfacing works were also completed in the carpark.