Excalibur, a 4,000 tonne piling barge, has left the construction site of the new Upper Forth Crossing at Kincardine in Scotland, marking the project’s continued progress.

The huge rig has been preparing the marine foundations of the bridge, which is being built by Morgan VINCI, a joint venture between infrastructure services company Morgan Est and VINCI Construction Grands Projets as part of a £120 million contract for Transport Scotland.

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Excalibur has been used to construct steel cased piles up to four metres in diameter and 32 metres long into the river bed to form the foundations for 20 of the 25 piers that will carry the new 1.2 kilometre bridge – the second largest incrementally launched concrete bridge in the world.

“The recent completion of marine piling represents a key milestone on the project,” says John Osborne, Morgan VINCI project director. “The viaduct is now well into its launch sequence and we remain on schedule to open the viaduct late in 2008.”

The new crossing will allow the existing Kincardine Bridge to be refurbished and reduce traffic congestion in Kincardine village and at the Bowtrees junction on the M876.

(CD)